THE  LINEAGE 


OF  THE 


6HURCH 


JUL     b    i 
GIFT 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT    OF 


THE  LINEAGE 


With  Compliments  of  the  Author 


FOND  DU  LAC,  WIS. 
Eastertide,  1911 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

Published  by  The  Young  Churchman  Co. 
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THE   SANCTUARY,   ST.   PAUL  S    CATHEDRAL,   LONDON. 


THE  LINEAGE 

From  Apostolic  Times 
of  the 

American  Catholic  Church 

Commonly  Called 

the 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 


By 

THE  RIGHT  REV.  C.  C.  GRAFTON,  S.T.D. 

H 

Bishop  of  Fond  du  Lac 


MILWAUKEE 
THE  YOUNG  CHURCHMAN  COMPANY 


BX 


G-7 


JUL    8   19. ! 
GIFT 


COPYRIGHT   BY 

THE  YOUNG  CHURCHMAN  CO. 
1911. 


^ 


TO 

RT.  REV.  DANIEL  SYLVESTER  TUTTLE,  D.D., 

PRESIDING   BISHOP   OF   THE   CHURCH, 
GREAT    MISSIONARY,    WISE   ADMINISTRATOR,    FAITHFUL    RULER, 

AND  LOVING   FRIEND, 

WITH   THE   SINCERE   REGARDS  OF    HIS   SERVANT 
AND  BROTHER  JN   CHRIST, 

CHARLES  CHAPMAN  GRAFTON,  S.T.D.,  LL.D., 

BISHOP  OF   FOND  DU   LAC. 


217302 


CONTENTS. 

THE  PREFACE ix 

CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE xiii 

CHAPTER. 

I. — THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  FOUNDATION     ...  1 

II. — THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH 22 

III.— THE  CHURCH  IN  BRITAIN 45 

IV. — FORMATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND    .     .  78 

V. — THE  DIVISION,  EAST  AND  WEST 120 

VI. — THE  RISE  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  PAPACY.  148 
VII. — THE   CHURCH    OF   ENGLAND   IN   THE   MIDDLE 

AGES 190 

VIII.— THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND       ....  215 

IX. — DECADENCE  AND  REVIVAL                            .     .  250 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  Sanctuary,  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London — FRONTISPIECE 

Martyrdom    of    St.    Alban 52-53 

St.  Columba  at  Oronsay 58-59 

lona  at  the  Present  Day 00-67 

St.  Aidan  Preaching  to  the  Northumbrians     .      .  80-81 

Gregory  and  the  English  Slaves 98-99 

St.  Augustine  and  the  British  Bishops  ....  100-101 

Murder  of  Monks  by  the  Danes,  Crowland  Abbey  108-109 

St.  Dunstan  Reproving  King  Edvvy    .      .      .      .  110-111 

Troitza  Monastery,  Kremlin 120-121 

St.  Saviour's  Church,  Moscow 128-129 

The  Kazan,  St.  Petersburg 132-133 

An  Iconastasis 134-135 

Norman  Thanksgiving  for  Victory  after  the  Battle 

of  Hastings 190-191 

Murder  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket 194-195 

Archbishop  Langton  Producing  before  the  Barons 

the  Charter  of  Henry  I.   . 200-201 

The  Seven  Bishops  Sent  to  the  Tower     ....  246-247 

A  Modern  Altar  and  Reredos  250-251 


PKEFACE. 
DEAR  READER: 

Let  me  fall  back  on  the  good  old-fashioned 
form  of  Preface,  and  ask  your  indulgent  perusal 
of  this  book  and  your  interest  in  it.  You  will 
find  some  points  with  which  you  disagree.  It 
would  be  impossible  that  it  should  not  be  so.  Do 
not,  however,  for  some  few  facial  blemishes,  con- 
demn the  work  as  worthless.  Give  credit  to  the 
motive  of  the  writer,  and  help  on  the  good  work 
it  is  hoped  by  it  to  do. 

The  book  is  a  gift  to  the  Church  in  aid  of  the 
laity.  It  was  undertaken  because  there  is  a  large 
body  of  laymen  who  have  but  an  imperfect  grasp 
on  the  history  of  the  Church.  They  have  not 
time  to  read  any  of  the  larger  works,  and  the  facts 
they  know  are  not  held  in  true  perspective.  Here 
they  have  in  small  compass  an  outline  of  the  his- 
tory of  their  Church :  a  brief  sketch  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Apostolic  period,  the  Church  in  Brit- 


xii  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

am,  the  Celtic  period,  the  division  of  East  and 
West,  the  development  of  the  Papacy,  the  Church 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Reformation,  the  deca- 
dence of  the  Church,  and  her  revival. 

My  brother  clergy  often  complain  of  the  lack 
of  zeal  on  the  part  of  their  laymen.  But  how  can 
we  expect  them  to  take  an  interest  in  the  Church 
of  which  they  know  so  little  ?  Must  we  not  teach 
our  children  of  the  costly  struggle  that  obtained 
our  independence  or  preserved  our  nationality  ? 
To  inspire  loyalty,  must  we  not  fly  the  flag  over 
the  schoolhouse,  and  encourage  the  singing  of  pa- 
triotic songs  ?  If  our  laity  are  not  to  rest  content 
with  a  mere  outward  conformity  to  the  Church, 
but  are  to  love  it,  they  must  know  of  its  past 
struggles,  and  the  present  one  in  which  it  is  en- 
gaged. We  must  seek  to  arouse  in  them  an  en- 
thusiasm for  the  Church,  such  as  burned  in  the 
hearts  of  the  confessors  and  martyrs,  doctors  and 
ancient  Bishops.  Christ  came  to  send  a  fire  on 
earth.  It  should  burn  within  our  hearts.  In 
contrast  with  any  other  cause,  it  should  be  the 
great  Cause  of  our  lives. 

If,  my  dear  clerical  brother,  you  wish  to  build 
up  an  active  parish,  you  will  find  it  profitable  to 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH.         xiii 

distribute  this  book  among  your  people.  The 
author  makes  nothing  financially  by  it.  He  has 
produced  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church,  and  of 
his  brother  clergy.  Surely  some  guild  or  friend 
can  be  found  who  will  furnish  the  small  means 
required  for  its  distribution. 

We  send  it  out,  invoking  God's  blessing  on  it 
and  on  its  readers.  Whatever  there  is  of  good  in 
the  work,  may  God  bless  to  the  Church's  profit, 
and  overrule  whatever  there  may  be  of  error.  It 
has  been  written,  we  would  humbly  say,  in  loyalty 
to  our  Church,  and  in  dependence  upon  the  Holy 
Spirit. 


A  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 
A.  D. 

33.  Day  of  Pentecost. 

43.  Invasion  of  Britain  by  Julius  Caesar. 

54.  Family  of  Caractacus  hostages  at  Rome. 

55.  St.  Paul  prisoner  at  Rome. 


ERRATUM 
In  Chronological  Table 


B.  C.  55.     Invasion  of  Britain  by  Julius  Caesar. 
A.D.  43.     Visit  of  Claudius  Caesar  to  Britain. 


450-550.     Destruction  of  churches  by  Northern  Barbarians. 
451.     General  Council  of  Chalcedon. 
477.     Invasion  by  Angles,  Jutes,  and  Saxons  begun. 
547.     Settlement  of  Angles  in  Northumbria. 
553.     General  Council  of  Constantinople. 
565.     Columba  settles  in  lona. 
587.     The  Heptarchy  established. 

590.     Pope  Gregory  begins  extension  of  the  Roman  Patri- 
archate. 
597.     Augustine  lands  in  Kent. 


A  CHEONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.  D. 

33.  Day  of  Pentecost. 

43.  Invasion  of  Britain  by  Julius  Caesar. 

54.  Family  of  Caractacus  hostages  at  Rome. 

55.  St.  Paul  prisoner  at  Rome. 

St.  Paul's  possible  visit  to  Britain. 

170.  Missionaries  from  Gaul. 

304.  Martyrdom  of  St.  Alban. 

314.  Council  of  Aries,  British  Bishops  present. 

325.  General  Council  of  Nicea. 

347.  British  Bishops  at  Council  of  Sardica. 

381.  General  Council  of  Constantinople. 

400.  St.  Ninian,  Missionary  to  Scotland. 

410.  Evacuation  of  Britain  begun  by  Romans. 

427.  Pelagian  Controversy;  aid  sought  from  Gaul. 

428.  Invasion  by  the  Picts,  and  Alleluia  Battle. 
431.  General  Council  of  Ephesus. 

447.  Visit  of  Gallican  Bishops.     Pelagianism  defeated. 
450-550.     Destruction  of  churches  by  Northern  Barbarians. 

451.  General  Council  of  Chalcedon. 

477.  Invasion  by  Angles,  Jutes,  and  Saxons  begun. 

547.  Settlement  of  Angles  in  Northumbria. 

553.  General  Council  of  Constantinople. 

565.  Columba  settles  in  lona. 

587.  The  Heptarchy  established. 

590.  Pope  Gregory  begins  extension  of  the  Roman  Patri- 
archate. 

597.  Augustine  lands  in  Kent. 


xvi  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

003.     Conference  between  Augustine  and  British  Bishops. 

604.  Augustine  died.  The  succession  from  him  eventu- 
ally died  out. 

616.     East  Saxons  reject  the  Faith;  recover  it  in  654. 

669.  Archbishop  Theodore  lands  in  Britain,  and  unites 
the  Churches. 

673.  Synod  of  Hertford.  Ten  ancient  Rules  of  Discipline 
accepted. 

678.  Wilfrid  appeals  to  Borne  against  Theodore's  division 
of  his  Diocese. 

680.  Synod    of    Hatfield;    Decrees    of    the    Five    General 

Councils  received. 

681.  Parochial  system  founded. 

716.  Boniface  of  Exeter  becomes  a  missionary  in  Fries- 
land. 

787.     Synod  of  Chelsea;  the  Catholic  Faith  declared. 

787.     First  Danish  invasion  in  the  North. 

795.     Danes  destroy  Lindisfarne  Monastery. 

835.     Egbert  defeats  the  Danes  at  Hengist's  Down. 

866.  Danes  make  a  planned  invasion  and  destroy  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Churches. 

878.  Danes  defeated;   leave  or  become  Christians. 

879.  Alfred  codifies  the  laws  of  his  kingdom. 

890.     Co-equal  intercourse  of  English  and  foreign  churches. 
1017-1035.     King  Cnut  and  his  Son. 
1042-1066.     Edward  the  Confessor. 

1055.     Great  Schism  between  East  and  West  of  Christen- 
dom. 

1066.  Struggle  between  Harold  and  William  the  Norman. 
1066-1087.     William  L,  the  Conqueror. 

1067.  William  I.  forbids  receipt  of  papal  letters  without 

leave. 

1070.     William  the  Conqueror  refuses  homage  to  the  papacy. 
1073-1085.     Pope  Gregory  VII.    (Hildebrand). 
1085.     Osmund,  Bishop  of  Sarum,  compiles  his  liturgy. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         xvii 

1087-1100.     William  II. 

1095.     Peter  the  Hermit  preaches  the  first  crusade. 

1100-1135.     Henry  I. 

1107.  Henry  I.  agrees  to  compromise  the  question  of  in- 
vestiture. 

1115.     Welsh  Bishops  become  united  to  Canterbury. 

1119.  The  Pope  invades  the  rights  of  the  See  of  Canter- 
bury. 

1135-1154.     Stephen  or  Maud. 

1154-1189.     Henry  II. 

1164.     Constitutions  of  Clarendon. 

1170.  Conflict  of  Church  and  State  ends.  Murder  of 
Becket. 

1189-1199.     Richard  I. 

1198-1216.     Innocent  III.  becomes  Pope  from  1198  to  1216. 

The  culmination  of  papal  claims. 
1199-1216.     John. 

1212.     Innocent  III.  deposes  King  John. 
1215.     Barons  and  Stephen  Langton,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, formulate  Magna  Charta. 
1216-1272.     Henry  III. 
1226.     Pope  Honorius  III.  demands  patronage  of  English 

benefices. 

1229.     Gregory  IX.  demands  a  tenth  of  English  property. 
1247.     Grossetete  resists  the  papal  demands. 
1256.     Pope  claims  "annates"  or  first  fruits  from  English 

Clergy. 

1272-1307.     Edward  I. 
1307.     The  parliament  at   Carlisle  protests   against  papal 

exactions. 

1307-1327.     Edward  II. 

1309-1378.     The  Popes  reside  at  Avignon  in  France. 
1317.     Pope    John    XXII.    claims    eighteen    English    Bish- 
oprics. 
1327-1377.     Edward  III. 


xviii  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

1343.  The  Pope  "provides"  two  Cardinals  for  England. 

1344.  The  English  Commons   petition  against  the  Pope's 

action. 

1351.     First  statute  of  Provisors  against  papal  patronage. 

1353.  First  statute  of  Prsemunire  against  papal  jurisdic- 
tion. 

1366.     Wycliffe  defends  refusal  of  subsidy  to  Rome. 

1377.     Wycliffe  summoned  to  trial  at  St.  Paul's  for  "heresy." 

1377-1399.     Richard  II. 

1378-1417.     The  great  schism  and  decadence  of  papal  power. 

1390.     Statutes  of  Provisors  re-enacted. 

1393.     Statutes  of  Pramunire  re-enacted. 

1399-1413.     Henry  IV. 

1413-1422.     Henry  V. 

1414-1418.  Council  of  Constance  deposes  Popes  John  XXII. 
and  Benedict  XIII. 

1417-1418.  Pope  Martin  V.  nominates  thirteen  foreign 
Bishops  to  England. 

1422-1461.     Henry  VI. 

1453.     Constantinople  taken  by  the  Turks. 

1461-1483.     Edward  IV. 

1473.     Caxton  begins  to  print  at  Westminster. 

1483-1485.     Richard  III. 

1485-1509.     Henry  VII. 

1509-1547.     Henry  VIII. 

1510.  Marriage  of  Henry  VIII.  with  his  brother's  widow 
by  papal  dispensation. 

1512.     Dean  Colet  advocates  Church  reform. 

1516.     Erasmus  publishes  Greek  Testament. 

1527.     Negotiations  commenced  for  Henry's  divorce. 

1532.     Appeals  to  Rome  forbidden. 

1534.  Convocation  declares  against  papal  jurisdiction  as 
of  divine  right. 

1534.     Payment  of  first  fruits  to  Rome  forbidden. 

1534.     Convocation  pleads  for  translation  of  Bible. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.          xix 

1536.     Ten  Articles  published  of  Catholic  character. 

1543.  "Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition  for  any  Chris- 
tian Man,"  put  forth  by  Convocation. 

1553-1558.     Mary  Tudor,  Queen. 

1556.  Cranmer  and  Ridley  burnt  for  heresy,  and  succeeded 
by  Pole. 

1558-1603.     Elizabeth,   Queen. 

1559.  Consecration  of  Parker  and  other  Bishops. 

1560.  Pope  offers  to  sanction  English  Liturgy  if  supremacy 

acknowledged. 

1563.     (Nov.  llth)   Last  meeting  of  Council  of  Trent. 

1568.     First   dissenting  Community    (Brownists)    founded. 

1570.     Pius  V.  excommunicates  Elizabeth — Roman  secession. 

1572.  First  Presbyterian  congregation  in  England  (Cart- 
wright's). 

1572.     Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

1580.  Jesuits  come  to  "convert"  England  and  start  a 
schism. 

1587.  Sixtus  V.  sanctions  hostilities  against  Elizabeth. 

1588.  (July)   Destruction  of  Spanish  Armada. 
1592.     Presbyterianism  established  in  Scotland. 
1603-1625.     James  I. 

1604.     Hampton    Court    Conference;    Canons    ecclesiastical 

published. 

1608.     First  permanent  settlement  in  America. 
1611.     The  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible  published. 
1625-1649.     Charles  I. 
1642.     Civil  war  begins. 

1645.     Execution  of  Archbishop  Laud   (Jan.  10). 
1645.     Directory  substituted  for  proscribed  Liturgy. 

1645.  Charles  I.  declines  to  "establish"  Presbyterianism. 

1646.  Charles    I.    refuses   to    sanction    abolition    of    Epis- 

copacy. 

1649.     Execution  of  Charles  I.    (Jan.  30). 
1649-1685.     Charles  II. 


xx  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

1649.  The  Commonwealth  proclaimed    (May  19). 

1655.  Cromwell's  persecuting  edict  issued. 

1660.  Convention  invites  Charles  II.  to  return. 

1660.  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  and  the  Church. 

1661.  The  Savoy  Conference  between  the  Bishops  and  Pres- 

byterians. 

1679.     Scotch  puritans  murder  Archbishop  Sharp. 
1685-1688.     James  II. 
1686.     Chapels  royal  opened  for  Romanist  worship. 

1686.  Massey,    a   Romanist,    made   dean   of   Christchurch, 

Oxford. 

1687.  Fellows  of  Magdalen  College  replaced  by  Romanists. 

1688.  Trial  and  acquittal  of  the  seven  Bishops  (June  30). 

1689.  Declaration  of  Right   (Jan.  22). 
1689-1702.     William  III.    (and  Mary). 

1689.     Attempt    to    remodel    the    Liturgy    by    Parliament 

averted. 
1698.     Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  founded. 

1701.  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  founded. 
1702-1714.     Queen  Anne. 

1702.  Scotch  Parliament  re-establishes  Presbyterianism. 
1703-1791.     John  Wesley,  founder  of  Methodism. 
1714-1727.     George  I.     ^ 

1727-1760.     George  II.    I  The  Church  in  its  decadence. 

1760-1830.— George  III.  J 

1760.     Methodists  begin  to  administer  Sacraments. 

1784.     Consecration  of  Bishop  Seabury  for  America. 

1820-1830.     George  IV. 

1827.     The  Christian  Year,  by  Keble,  published. 

1830-1837.     William  IV. 

1833.  Tractarian  movement  began. 

1834.  Keble's    Assize    Sermon    beginning    of    Tractarian 

Movement. 

1834.     Rejection  of  bill  to  relieve  Bishops  from  legislation. 
1837.     Accession  of  Queen  Victoria. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  xxi 

1843.  Secession  from  the  Established  Church  in  Scotland, 
and  founding  of  Free  Kirk  of  Scotland  (Presby- 
terian ) . 

1849.  The  Gorham  case,  involving  doctrines  on  Baptism. 

1850.  The  Roman  Church  established  in  diocesan  form  by 

Papal  Bull. 
1856.     Decree  by  Pope  of  Immaculate  Conception  of  Blessed 

Virgin. 

1864.     First  diocesan  conference,  held  at  Ely. 
1864.     Convocation  condemns  "Essays  and  Reviews." 

1866.  Convocation  condemns  Dr.  Colenso's  writings. 

1867.  First  Pan-Anglican  synod,  76  Bishops  present. 
1869.     Irish  Church  Disestablishment  Act  Passed. 

1869.  Vatican   Council    promulgates   new   doctrine,    Papal 

infallibility. 

1870.  Vatican  Council  declares  Pope  infallible. 
1908.     Fifth  Pan-Anglican  Conference. 


. 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


CHAPTEK  I. 
THE  CHUKCH  AND  ITS  FOUNDATION. 

LET  us  begin  the  Lineage  of  our  American 
Church  with  a  little  theology. 

The  Church  is  the  end  of  God's  original  design 
in  creating.  God  designed  the  Universe  that  now 
is,  as  a  preliminary  to  creating  the  Church.  He 
created  the  material  Universe  and  man,  that  He 
might  eventually  develop  out  of  the  existing  order 
of  things,  a  new  organism.  The  Church  is  this 
new  organism.  It  is  the  primary  purpose  and  the 
ultimate  object  of  the  creative  activity. 

Let  us  next  make  clear  what  we  mean  by  the 
"Church."  It  is  a  spiritual  organism.  Philoso- 
phers have  believed  in  a  future  state  of  reward 
and  punishment,  who  have  had  no  conception  of 
the  Church  as  the  finally  developed  end  of  Crea- 
tion. Many  Christians,  in  like  manner,  believe  in 
a  heaven  as  a  place  of  reward  for  good  people. 


2  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

They  think  of  it  as  a  place  where  they  may  wan 
der  about  and  do  much  as  they  will.  They  have 
little  idea  of  its  awful  sanctity,  its  law  of  life,  its 
organization  as  completing  the  creative  purpose. 
Heaven  is  not  merely  a  place,  but  it  is  also  a  new 
state  of  life.  It  is  a  new  mode  of  union  with  God. 
It  is  thus,  the  final  development  of  Creation.  Its 
members  form  together  a  spiritual  organism. 

Again :  the  Church  is  not  a  mere  human  insti- 
tution. Some  have  thought  of  it  as  such.  To  them 
it  belongs  to  the  same  class  as  other  human 
societies.  It  is  like  a  kind  of  fraternal  society, 
similar  to  that  of  the  Masons,  Oddfellows,  or 
Knights  of  Pythias.  It  is  thus  a  temporary  and 
earthly  society,  like  a  political  one,  or  a  society 
having  some  philanthropic  aim.  It  is  simply  a 
man-made  association  for  some  religious  purposes. 
It  is  only  to  last  as  long  as  the  world  lasts.  It  is 
human  in  its  origin,  and  only  for  a  time.  Is  not 
this  the  popular  Protestant  idea  ? 

Again:  the  Church  is  not  merely  a  divine  So- 
ciety. Some,  because  it  was  founded  on  earth  by 
a  Divine  Founder,  conceive  of  it  as  such.  They 
moreover,  liken  it  unto  an  earthly  Kingdom,  and 
claim  for  it  a  visible,  earthly  head.  This  is  the 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  3 

Roman  idea,  and  tends  to  concentrate  and  confine 
the  view  of  it  to  this  earth.  But  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  something  more  than  a  divinely  founded 
society.  It  has  a  wider  than  an  earthly  vision. 
It  consists  of  all  the  saints  in  glory,  the  vast  body 
in  the  Expectant  state,  and  the  few  who  form  the 
Church  Militant  on  earth.  All  three  together 
make  a  spiritual  organism  which  is  the  Church, 
of  which  Christ  is  the  Head. 

We  must  thus  realize  the  fact  that,  out  of  our 
temporary  probationary  state,  God  is  calling  and 
perfecting  souls,  who,  united  to  Christ,  form  a 
great,  grand,  spiritual  organism.  It  is  not  a  mere 
organization.  Organizations  man  can  make.  God 
only  can  make  an  organism.  An  organism  is 
something  that  has  life  in  itself,  and  can  communi- 
cate life.  .  .  "At  Pentecost,  God  breathed  into 
the  Church  the  Spirit  of  Life.  It  became  changed 
from  a  lifeless  into  a  living  body."1  Of  this  spir- 
itual organism  which  is  the  Church,  the  God-Man, 
Jesus  Christ,  is  the  Head,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
the  Heart.  You  may  conceive  of  it  as  a  great 
sphere  of  light,  of  which  Christ  is  the  Sun,  and  as 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  as  its  atmosphere.  Or 


1  Title  Deeds  Church  of  Eng.,  Gamier. 


4  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

you  may  think  of  it  as  a  Temple  in  which  Christ 
dwells,  and  of  which,  united  to  Him,  we  are  living 
stones.  It  is  a  great  and  pregnant  truth  that,  what 
God  is  to  the  material  universe,  namely,  the  energy 
immanent  within  it,  Christ,  the  God-Man,  is  to  the 
new  creation.  The  Church  is  thus  a  living  organ- 
ism, which  has  life  in  itself,  and  can  communicate 
life. 

In  its  final  and  completed  state,  when  Christ 
shall  come  again,  the  Church  will  rise  into  its 
perfected  condition,  when  all  evil  and  sorrow  will 
for  ever  cease.  Sorrow  and  sin  will  be  no  more. 

All  the  saints,  having  attained  to  the  Beatific 
Vision,  will  then  be  kept  from  sinning  by  that  new 
union  with  God  in  Christ,  and  in  blessedness  con- 
sequently will  ever  reign.  God  came  into  this 
world,  not  to  make  it  the  good  world,  but,  out  of 
this  world,  to  make  a  world  that  would  be  good. 

This  spiritual  organism,  where  the  creature 
endowed  with  free  will  will  then  be  upheld  in  God, 
is  the  final  end  of  creation.  It  is  being  evolved 
out  of  the  present  preparatory  state,  and  is  the 
Church.  It  is  the  One,  Holy,  Catholic,  Apostolic 
Church,  which  we  profess  in  the  Creeds.  It  is 
called  in  Holy  Scripture  the  "Bride  of  Christ." 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  5 

It  is  the  consummated  act  of  the  present  creation. 
It  has,  too,  a  future  purpose  and  development.  It 
will  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  goeth ;  it  is 
an  act,  grand,  majestic,  glorious,  worthy  of  the 
conception  of  a  God ! 

THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  Church  had  its  beginning  with  the  Jewish 
people.  God,  who  taught  mankind  through  nature 
and  conscience,  through  poets  and  philosophers, 
and  holy  men  and  patriarchs,  established  the  grow- 
ing revelation  of  Himself  under  Moses  in  an 
organized  form.  This  is  called  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion. Our  Lord,  the  prophesied  end  of  the  Old 
Dispensation,  came  as  the  completed  revelation  of 
God  to  man.  The  whole  vast  universe,  with  its 
millions  of  suns,  and  the  millions  of  ages  in  its 
development,  was  designed  to  give  honor  and  dig- 
nity to  the  event.  Coming  into  the  universe,  it 
must  be  at  some  one  point,  and  this  planet  fur- 
nished the  place.  Consequently,  representatives  of 
all  creation,  heaven  and  earth,  angels  and  men, 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  the  animals  of  the  stall,  the 
vegetable  and  mineral  kingdoms,  were  present  at 
the  birth  of  Him  who  came  that  "He  might  gather 


6  THE  LINEAGE   OF 

together  in  one  all  things,  in  Christ,  both  which 
are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth."2  Christ 
did  not  come  to  destroy  the  Old  Dispensation,  but 
He  came  to  fulfil  and  build  upon  it.  The  old  was 
like  the  six  waterpots  filled  with  water,  which  were 
to  be  changed  into  the  wine  of  the  Gospel.  God 
ever  thus  develops  the  new  order  out  of  the  preced- 
ing one.  Some  think  that  we  have  little  or  nothing 
to  do  with  the  Old  Testament.  But  it  declares 
His  Mind  who  changes  not.  Its  moral  principles 
remain  the  same.  The  Old  Testament  reveals,  also, 
the  principles  of  worship.  It  shows  how  God 
would  be  approached  by  His  Church.  The  Jewish 
Dispensation  is  thus  like  the  bud,  of  which  the 
Gospel  is  the  unfolded  flower. 

Among  other  likenesses,  the  Old  and  New  Dis- 
pensations had  each  a  special  Priesthood.  The 
whole  of  Israel  was,  we  read,  a  nation  of  prophets, 
kings,  and  priests  unto  the  Lord.  The  Christian 
Church  was  formed  in  like  manner.  It  was  to  be 
a  holy  nation,  a  royal  priesthood.3  The  distinction 
between  the  laity  and  the  clergy,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, is  not  one  of  kind  but  of  degree.  All 


*Eph.  i.  10. 

•  I.  St.  Peter  ii.  5,  9. 


THE   AMERICAN    CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  7 

Christians,  baptized  and  confirmed,  partake  of 
Christ's  three  offices,  and  exercise  prophetical, 
priestly,  and  royal  powers.  But,  just  as  there  was 
in  Israel  a  special  order  of  priesthood,  so  it  is  in 
the  Christian  Church.  The  universal  gift  does 
not  preclude  the  existence  of  a  specially  designated 
one.  And  so  in  each  dispensation,  there  is  a  spe- 
cial order  of  priesthood,  to  invade  whose  rights 
and  powers  is  to  bring  upon  the  invaders  for  so 
doing,  the  condemnation  of  Korah,  Dathan  and 
Abiram.4  "When  it  is  understood,"  said  Professor 
Salmon,  "that  the  scriptural  conception  of  the 
Church  is  not  that  of  an  aggregate  of  particles, 
identical  in  nature  like  grains  of  sand,  but  of  an 
organized  body,  the  parts  of  which  have  differen- 
tiated functions,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  receiving 
the  doctrine  that  the  Church  is  a  corporate  body, 
having  its  rules  and  officers,  and  that  there  are 
some  of  its  members  to  whom  the  special  function 
is  assigned  of  teaching  and  directing  others." 

THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY. 

The  reason  why  sectarians  object  to  receiving 
Episcopal  ordination  is  because  they  have  an  im- 


4  St.  Jude  ii. 


8  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

perfect  grasp  of  the  Incarnation.  God  became 
Incarnate  that,  through  union  with  the  Incarnate 
One,  here  by  grace,  we  should  attain  in  Him  here- 
after to  a  union  with  God  in  glory.  It  was  there- 
fore necessary  there  should  be  both  an  Agent,  viz : 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  also  means  adapted  to  our 
dual  nature,  viz:  the  sacraments,  by  which  this 
union  with  Christ  should  be  effected.  The  neces- 
sity of  sacraments  implied  the  further  necessity 
of  an  authorized  ministry  to  administer  them.  The 
mode  of  ordering  and  transmission  of  the  ministry 
is  witnessed  by  the  custom  of  the  Spirit-endowed 
Church.  The  custom  throughout  the  ages,  in  the 
Apostolically  descended  churches,  bears  witness  to 
the  Episcopal  manner  of  ordination.  The  char- 
acter of  the  ministry,  as  the  representative  of 
Christ,  is  witnessed  by  the  mode  of  His  institut- 
ing it. 

It  is  thus  interesting  to  see  how  Christ  trained 
the  Apostles,  and  formed  the  ministry  which  was  to 
be  the  authorized  representative  of  Himself.  His 
public  life,  we  may  observe,  was  divided  into  three 
parts.  The  first,  in  which  He  exercised  especially 
His  public  prophetical  ministry,  begins  with  His 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  ends  with  the  Glory  of 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  9 

the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  which  symbolizes 
His  being  the  light  of  the  world.  The  special 
time  of  the  exercise  of  His  priestly  functions  be- 
gins with  the  entering  into  Jerusalem  and  the  offer- 
ing of  Himself  in  the  upper  chamber,  and  termi- 
nates with  His  "It  is  finished"5  on  the  Mount  of 
Calvary.  During  the  great  forty  days  of  His  Resur- 
rection, He  is  seen  in  His  kingly  attitude  as  Con- 
queror of  Death  and  Hell,  and  this  period  termi- 
nates on  the  Mount  of  Olivet  on  the  day  of  His 
glorious  Ascension.  Now,  in  each  of  these  peri- 
ods, He  began  to  associate  the  Apostles  with  Him- 
self and  His  ofiices,  and  to  commission  them.  He 
gave  them,  in  the  days  when  He  was  teaching, 
power  to  teach/  and  with  authority.  They  are  to 
"bind  and  loose"  7  by  the  utterance  of  the  Word, 
and  to  declare  the  coming  Kingdom.  In  the  awful 
period  of  His  priestly  action,  He  associated  the 
Twelve  with  Himself,  and  commissioned  them  as 
Apostles  "to  do"  or  "to  offer"  the  Eucharistic  Sac- 
rifice as  a  Memorial  of  Himself.8  In  the  days  of 
His  Resurrection,  in  the  exercise  of  His  kingly 


6  St.  John   xix.    30. 
•St.  Matt.  x.  7. 

7  St.  John  xx.   23. 

8  St.  Luke  xxii.  19. 


10  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

sovereignty,  He  gave  mission  and  jurisdiction  to 
His  Apostles  throughout  the  whole  world.9  It  was 
then  that  He  bade  them  make  persons  members  of 
the  Church  by  baptism.  It  was  at  this  time,  also, 
that,  breathing  on  them,  He  gave  them  power  in 
His  name  to  remit  or  retain  sins.10  It  was  most 
fitting  that  this  power  should  be  given  at  this  time, 
because  the  pardoning  power  belongs  to  sover- 
eignty. 

But  with  all  this,  they  were  not  yet  consecrated. 
Consecration  implies  a  separation  of  persons  from 
all  others,  and  the  bestowing  on  them  of  a  gift. 
Our  Lord,  having  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of 
power,  baptizes  at  Pentecost  His  whole  Church 
with  fire,  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost.11  The  Holy 
Ghost,  having  first  dwelt  in  Christ  (being  given 
without  measure  unto  Him),  came  from  Christ, 
and  filled  the  whole  Church.  He  entered  into  all 
its  members.  He  came  from  Christ,  not  as  a  tran- 
sitory gift,  but  as  a  permanent  one.  He  entered 
into  this  organism  Christ  was  forming,  never 
again  to  leave  it.  The  Holy  Spirit  gave  thereby 
to  each  and  to  all  of  its  members  their  respective 


8  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 
10  St.  John  xx.  22,  23. 
"Acts  ii.  2-7. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  11 

and  necessary  gifts.  He  quickened  all  souls,  unit- 
ing them  to  Christ,  and  empowering  all  in  different 
degrees  in  union  with  Christ's  offices.  He  gave 
the  Apostles  a  gift  for  the  exercise  of  all  those 
functions  which  they  had  previously  been  commis- 
sioned by  Him  to  perform.  The  Apostles  became 
thereby  "able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,'7 
i.e.,  enabled  to  do  all  those  things  which  they  had 
previously  been  commissioned  to  do.12  Their  con- 
secration was  thus  made  complete.  We  thus  see 
how  both  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit  ever  dwell  in 
the  Church.  Their  presence  in  the  Church  makes 
it  a  living  organism.  "The  Church,"  as  Dr. 
Moberly  says,  ais  the  perpetuity  of  Christ's  Pres- 
ence. It  is  the  living  temple  of  God  Incarnate." 
The  Holy  Spirit,  also,  abides  in  the  Church,  unit- 
ing its  members  to  Christ  and  empowering  its 
ministers  to  perform  their  respective  functions. 

This  process  of  commission  and  consecration 
to  the  Ministry  is  emphatically  brought  out  in  the 
case  of  St.  Matthias.  The  falling  away  of  Judas 
had  made  a  vacancy  in  the  Apostolic  band,  which 
was  to  consist  of  twelve  members.13  The  Apostles 


12 II.  Cor.  iii.  6. 
"Acts  i.   16-20. 


12  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

not  having  been  themselves  consecrated  (their  con- 
secration was  not  completed  till  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost), could  not  consecrate  him.  All  they  could  do 
at  that  time  was  to  discover  by  lot  whom  the  Lord 
had  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  lot  having 
fallen  on  Matthias,  he  was  numbered  among  the 
Eleven.  He  was  thus  called  and  commissioned  by 
Christ  through  the  action  of  the  Apostles.  He  was 
not  thereby  consecrated,  he  was  only  numbered 
with  the  Apostles.14  Then,  together  with  the  other 
Apostles,  he  was  consecrated,  as  they  were,  by  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  Pentecost. 

THE  THREE  ORDERS. 

We  must  now  consider  the  subsequent  forma- 
tion of  the  three  orders  of  the  Ministry,  as  Bishops, 
Priests,  and  Deacons. 

When  we  study  the  New  Testament,  we  see 
that  there  were  at  first  two  special  classes  of  minis- 
ters. There  were  the  "Apostles  and  Prophets," 
upon  whose  foundations  we  are  told  the  Church 
was  built.15  The  Apostles  specially  bore  witness 
to  the  Resurrection  and  the  Presence  of  Christ  in 
the  Church,  and  the  prophets  to  the  indwelling  of 


"Acts  i.   26. 
"Eph.  ii.  20. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  13 

the  Holy  Ghost.  This  comes  out  very  beautifully 
in  the  calling  and  consecration  of  St.  Paul.  Our 
Lord,  having  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of  power, 
appeared  to  Saul  as  he  journeyed  on  the  road  to 
Damascus.  Christ  then  called  and  commissioned 
Saul,  as  He  had  formerly  the  Apostles  during  the 
time  of  His  public  ministry.  The  consecration  of 
the  Apostles  was  completed,  as  we  have  seen,  at 
Pentecost,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given  them. 
In  like  manner  the  consecration  of  Saul  to  the 
Apostleship  was  subsequently  completed.  This 
took  place  by  special  order  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  per- 
sonally revealing  Himself  to  the  prophets  at  An- 
tioch.16  Then  it  was  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given 
to  Saul  as  it  had  been  given  to  the  other  Apostles, 
and  he  was  thus  consecrated.  He  was  not,  as  he 
said,  "an  Apostle  of  men/7  as  chosen  by  them, 
neither  commissioned  by  man,  but  by  Jesus  Christ. 
He  was  subsequently  gathered  into  the  Apostolic 
fellowship,17  and  was  recognized  as  an  Apostle,  and 
his  jurisdiction  to  the  Gentiles  was  assigned  him. 
The  order  of  the  original  twelve,  in  its  capacity 
as  a  witness  of  the  Kesurrection,  and  the  distinc- 


16  Acts  xiii.  2. 

17  Gal.  ii.  9. 


14  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

live  order  of  prophets,  passed;  but  our  Lord  had 
promised  to  remain  with  the  Apostolic  Ministry 
"unto  the  end  of  the  world."  He  also  promised 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  Church19  to  be  its  Comforter 
and  Guide.  Our  Lord  also  had  said,  "as  the  Father 
sent  Me,  even  so  send  I  you."  This  implies  that 
an  authorized  Ministry  should  be  established.  Its 
members  might  be  discriminated  by  their  gifts  and 
different  employments,  as  stated  in  Ephesians  iv. 
11 :  "He  gave  some,  Apostles ;  and  some,  prophets ; 
and  some,  evangelists ;  and  some  pastors  and  teach- 
ers," or,  by  their  separate  ranks  or  orders,  as  Bish- 
ops, priests,  and  deacons.  So  it  came  to  pass  that, 
forced  by  the  needs  of  the  Church,  and  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Apostolate  gath- 
ered into  union  with  itself  persons  clothed  with 
different  degrees  of  ministerial  authority.  So  we 
find  in  the  Acts  the  beginning  of  the  order  of  dea- 
cons, who  were  ordained  by  the  laying-on  of  the 
Apostles'  hands.20  Subsequently  a  second  order,21 
that  of  "elders,"  arose,  ordained  by  the  laying-on 
of  the  hands  of  Titus  and  Paul.  And  lastly,  as  the 

18  St.  Matt,   xxviii.   20. 

19  Bishop   Hall's   charge   on    the   Apostolic  Ministry,   p.    18. 
Liddon's  Sermon  at  Consecration  of  Bishop  King. 

20  Acts  vi.  6. 

21  Titus  i.  5. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  15 

need  arose  of  an  order  so  associated  with  the  Apos- 
tles as  to  possess  the  power  of  ordination,  we  find 
apostolic  delegates,  like  Timothy  and  Titus,  thus 
empowered."  Thus  St.  Paul  writes  to  Titus :  "For 
this  cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest 
set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain 
elders  in  every  city."  In  this  way  the  Christian 
ministry  was  established,  and  in  a  permanent  form. 
We  find  no  proof  in  Holy  Scripture  of  a  congrega- 
tional or  solely  presbyterian  form  of  ordination.23 
And,  as  in  the  Jewish  Church  we  find  three  orders, 
high  priests,  priests,  and  Levites,  so  in  the  Chris- 
tian, as  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  witnessed 
by  Him  in  the  common  consent,  we  find  the  three 
orders  of  Bishops,  priests,  and  deacons. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  PRIESTHOOD. 

Again,  we  find  that  in  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion the  priesthood  was  preserved.  It  is  some- 
times said  that  the  word  "Priest"  is  not  applied  to 
the  Christian  ministry  in  the  Bible.  But  this  is 
a  mistake.  In  Isaiah  Ixvi.  21,  we  find  it  prophesied 
in  reference  to  the  coming  dispensation,  that  there 


22 II.  Tim.  i.  6. 

23  Wordsworth,    Christian    Ministry;    Sanday,    Priesthood; 
Moberly,  Ministerial  Priesthood. 


16  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

should  be  "priests."  All  nations  were  to  come, 
"And  I  will  take  of  them,  for  priests  and  for 
Levites,  saith  the  Lord."  Also  our  Lord  Himself 
is  called  the  High  Priest,  and  "a  Priest  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedec."  He  was  not,  therefore,  to 
be  confounded  with  priests  of  human  or  Jewish 
origin.  For,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Hebrews,  "if 
He  were  on  earth,  He  should  not  be  a  priest"  at 
all,24  i.e.,  offering  gifts  according  to  the  law.  But 
as  a  High  Priest,  He  would  have  priests  under 
Him,  and  to  them  the  Church,  guided  by  the 
Spirit,  applied  the  Greek  term  te/oevs  and  the 
Latin  term  "sacerdos."  The  question,  however, 
must  not  be  determined  merely  by  the  terms 
used,  but  by  the  powers  given  to  the  Christian 
ministry.  Now  we  find  that  the  Christian  min- 
ister has  the  same  powers  given  him  which  char- 
acterized the  Jewish  priesthood,  and  therefore 
he  is  a  priest  in  character  and  office,  like  those 
of  old. 

Like  the  priesthood  of  the  Old  Dispensation, 
the  Christian  priest  is  to  teach,  bless,  rule,  inter- 
cede, and  offer  sacrifice.  Was  it  the  duty  of  the 
Jewish  priest  to  keep  knowledge,  and  to  teach? 


24  Heb.  viii.  4. 


THE    AMERICAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH.  17 

Concerning  the  Christian  ministry  our  Lord  said, 
"He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  Me."  25  Did  the 
Jewish  priest  exercise  ecclesiastical  rule  ?  To  the 
Christian  priest  it  is  said:  "Whatsoever  ye  shall 
bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  what- 
soever ye  shall  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in 
heaven."  Had  the  Jewish  priest  the  power  of 
reconciliation  and  excommunication  ?  To  the  Chris- 
tian priesthood  was  given  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation, that  "\vhosesoever  sins  they  remit,  they 
are  remitted,  and  whosesoever  sins  they  retain,  they 
are  retained."  Could  the  Jewish  priest  stand 
with  his  censer  between  the  living  and  the  dead, 
and  stay  the  plague?  "Is  any  sick  among  you? 
Let  him  call  for  the  elders  of  the  Church,  and  let 
them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the 
Name  of  the  Lord,  and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall 
save  the  sick."  Did  the  priest  of  the  old  order 
bless  the  people  in  like  manner  that  the  Christian 
priest  blesses  in  Christ's  Name  ?  Was  the  Jewish 
priest  to  offer  sacrifice?  "We  have  an  Altar." 
An  altar  involves  sacrifice  and  priesthood,  and 


25  St.  Luke  x.   16. 
20  St.  Matt.   xvi.   19. 

27  St.  John  xx.  23. 

28  St.  James  v.  14. 
29Heb.  xiii.  10. 


18  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

there  the  Christian  priest  offers  the  Eucharistic 
memorial  to  God.  The  whole  Christian  Church 
is  a  priesthood,  and  the  clergy,  as  its  representa- 
tives, are  priests.  St.  Paul,  in  Romans  xv.  16,  as- 
serts his  priestly  office  in  recognized  liturgical 
words.  He  speaks  (we  believe  we  give  a  true  trans- 
lation) of  "the  grace  that  was  given  to  me  of  God, 
that  I  should  be  the  priest  of  Jesus  Christ  unto 
the  Gentiles,  ministering  the  work  of  a  priest  in 
respect  of  the  Gospel  of  God,  that  the  oblation  of 
the  Gentiles  might  be  made  acceptable,  being 
sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Our  Lord  Himself, 
in  bidding  the  Apostles  "do  this,"  or,  as  the  word 
here  in  connection  with  liturgical  ones  signifies, 
"offer"  this,  established  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice.80 
Christ  washing  the  Apostles'  feet  was  part  of  the 
service  of  priestly  ordination,  as  it  was  of  old.31 
The  Lord's  Supper  was  not  thus  the  establishment 
merely  of  a  communion,  but  a  setting  forth  and  a 
presentation  to  the  Eternal  Father  of  "Our  Lord's 
death,  till  He  come  again." 

The  Christian  ministry  was  thus  made  the  ex- 


30  St.  Luke   xxii.    19. 

31  Lev.  viii.  6. 

82 1.  Cor.  xi.  20. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  19 

tension  of  our  Lord's  offices  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and 
King.  Our  Lord  in  this  way  continues  what  He 
began  to  do,  and  abides  with  us,  going  about,  "do- 
ing good."  83  The  old  priesthood  was  thus  not 
destroyed;  it  was  simply  changed.  Thus  we  are 
told,  "the  Priesthood  being  changed,  there  was  of 
necessity  a  change  of  the  law."  There  was  a  new 
law  of  life  given,  because  there  was  a  new  Priest- 
hood. The  old  was  enlarged,  elevated,  spiritualized. 
We  gather  then  from  Holy  Scripture  that  the 
general  principle  concerning  the  ministry  is  that 
the  Church,  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  calls  or 
selects  those  who  are  to  represent  it;  and  Christ, 
through  ordination  and  consecration,  authorizes 
and  bestows  His  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  those 
who  are  to  represent  Him.  The  received  custom 
in  the  Church,  undisputed  for  fifteen  hundred 
years,  and  still  held  by  the  larger  portion  of  Chris- 
tendom, is  that  the  power  to  ordain  lies  with  the 
Bishops,  as  the  Apostles'  successors.  The  theory 
that  it  might  be  given  by  presbyters,  or  apart  from 
the  Apostolically  descended  ministers,  is  contrary 
to  the  tradition  and  custom  of  the  Church.  And 


S3Heb.  vii.  12. 
34  Acts  x.  38. 


20  THE   LINEAGE  OF 

it  is  to  be  observed,  that  by  ordination  not  only  is 
a  gift  and  grace  betowed ;  but,  by  being  gathered 
into  the  Apostolic  fellowship,  mission  and  juris- 
diction are  also  given.  In  this  way,  the  Christian 
ministry  has  come  to  us  Anglicans  from  Apostolic 
times.  And  so  it  is  declared  in  the  preface  to  the 
Ordinal  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  that 
"from  the  Apostles'  times,  there  have  been  these 
orders  of  Ministry  in  Christ's  Church:  Bishops, 
Priests,  and  Deacons."  Moreover,  our  Church  as- 
serts her  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  suc- 
cession when  she  prays,  "O  Holy  Jesus,  who  hast 
....  promised  to  be  with  the  ministers  of  Apos- 
tolic succession  to  the  end  of  the  world;  Be  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  bless  the  ministry  and  service 
of  him  who  is  now  appointed  to  offer  the  sacrifice 
of  prayer  and  praise.  .  .  ."  This  sacred  inheri- 
tance entrusted  to  us  by  God,  is  it  not  our  duty 
to  honor,  preserve,  and  guard  ? 

The  twelve  Apostles  first  Christ  made 

His  ministers  of  grace; 
And  they  their  hands  on  others  laid, 

Ordaining  in  their  place. 

So  age  by  age,  and  year  by  year, 

His  grace  has  never  failed, 
For  still  the  Holy  Church  is  here, 

Though  her  dear  Lord  is  veiled. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH.  21 


BOOKS  CONSULTED  AND  REFERRED  TO  IN 
CHAPTER  I. 

Wordsworth's  and  the  Speaker's  Commentaries. 

Lange,  Sadler,  Cornelius  A'Lapide,  Maldonatus. 

Introduction  to  Neio  Testament.    Zahn. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles.     Ragg. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles.     Rackham. 

Church  and  the  Ministry.    Gore. 

Christian  Tradition.    Pullan. 

What  is  Christ's  Church  f    Hammond. 

Christian  Priesthood.    Moberly. 

Christian  Ministry.     Lightfoot. 

Remarks  on  Lightfoot's  Christian  Ministry.     Wordsworth. 

Holy  Orders.     Whitham. 

Doctrine  of  the  Priesthood.     Carter. 

Conception  of  the  Priesthood.    Sanday. 

Orders  and  Unity.    Gore. 

Grace  of  the  Ministry.    Denton. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH. 

THE  APOSTLES,  having  received  orders  from 
our  Lord  to  go  and  teach  all  nations/  baptizing 
them  in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  went  everywhere,  making  disciples.  The 
Church  was  founded  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and 
began  at  Jerusalem.2  It  shortly  took  root  at  Da- 
mascus,8 and  at  Antioch,4  and  in  Syria.  In  53 
A.D.,  we  find  St.  Paul  arriving  at  Ephesus,  which 
was  the  kernel  of  Hellenism.  We  find  him  next 
passing  over  to  Macedonia5  and  Greece.  He  reached 
Rome,  and  finally  Spain.  In  his  voyage  from 
Rome  to  Spain,  he  probably  touched  the  southern 
portion  of  Gaul;  and  Marseilles  became  the  seed 
plot  for  extension  of  the  gospel.  It  thus  spread 


1  St.  Matt,   xxviii.   19. 

2  Acts  i.  4. 

8  Acts  ix.  2. 

*  Acts  xi.  20,  21. 

5  Acts  xvi.  10,  seq. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  23 

into  Spain,  and  Gaul,  and  to  the  farthest  bounds 
of  the  West.  It  was  probably  carried  eastward 
by  St.  Thomas  and  other  Apostles.6 

What  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  was,  and 
what  kind  of  Church  government  they  established, 
we  learn  from  the  New  Testament.  The  Apostles 
taught  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God  and 
the  Son  of  Man.7  He  was  the  Messiah8  who  came 
in  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  He  was  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,9 
rose  on  the  third  day,  ascended  unto  the  Right 
Hand  of  power,10  and  gave  to  the  Church  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  Comforter.11  He  was  the  Lamb  of  God, 
the  Propitiation,  the  Mercy  Seat,  the  Sin- Victim, 
the  At-One-Maker,  man's  only  Saviour.  He  bore 
our  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  by  His 
stripes  we  are  healed.12  We  are  accepted  for  His 
sake. 

The  Apostles  did  not  originate  a  christology 
different  from  that  found  in  the  Gospels.  Dur- 
ing Christ's  visible  ministry,  they  had  known  Him 


8  Ch.  of  Aposts.,  Ragg,  141-223. 

7  Acts  vii.  56. 

8  Acts  viii.  37. 

9  Acts  ii.  23,  24. 

10  Acts  ii.  33. 

11  St.  John  xvi.   7. 
12Isa.  liii.  5. 


24  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

"after  the  flesh/'  13  But  when  the  Holy  Ghost 
filled  and  illuminated  them,  they  saw  into  the 
deeper  meaning  of  His  life  and  teaching.  They 
understood  the  mystery  that  was  hid  from  ages, 
and  St.  Paul  and  the  others,  taught  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  brought  it  out  in  their  Epistles. 

It  was  not  by  the  works  of  the  law  that  we 
could  be  saved,  but  by  being  possessed  of  the 
"righteousness  of  God"  14  made  ours  in  Christ  by 
a  living,  loving  faith.  We  were  to  be  in  Him, 
and  so  saved  by  His  merits;  and  He  to  be  in  us, 
and  so  the  new  life  principle  in  us.  He  was  the 
second  Adam,15  the  Head  of  the  new  regenerate 
race.  And  as  in  the  first  "Adam  all  die,  even  so," 
that  is  by  actual  communication  of  nature,  "in 
Christ"  were  all  to  be  "made  alive." 

The  Apostles  preached  the  doctrine  of  faith 
and  repentance17  on  man's  part,  to  obtain  the  bene- 
fit of  union  with  Christ;  and  baptism  on  Christ's 
part,  as  the  instrument  effecting  that  union,  and 
bestowing  remission  of  sins.  They  declared  Christ 
to  be  the  Head  of  the  Church,  which  was  His 


13 II.  Cor.  v.  16. 
14  Rom.  i.  16,  17. 
"I.  Cor.  xv.  45. 
18  I.  Cor.  xv.  22. 
1T  Acts  ii.  38. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH.  25 

mystical  Body.18  And  we  were  not  to  be  saved  as 
individuals  apart  from  the  Church,  but  in  it  and 
as  members  of  it.  The  Church  was  the  Ark  into 
which  we  were  to  be  gathered.  "The  Lord  added 
to  the  Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved." 

We  find  the  Apostles  establishing  the  solemn 
observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,20  the  administration 
of  Baptism,21  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  in  Confirma- 
tion,22 the  reconciliation  by  Absolution  of  peni- 
tents,23 and  the  offering  of  the  Holy  Eucharistic 
Sacrifice.24  They  also  took  order  concerning  the 
Church's  worship,2"  its  Liturgy,2"  its  discipline,27 
and  the  rule  of  Holy  Living.28 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

As  to  the  government  of  the  Church,  the  Apos- 
tles in  all  probability  received  directions  from  the 
Lord  Himself  during  the  forty  days,  when  "He 
spoke  of  the  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of 


18Eph.  iv.  16. 

19  Acts  ii.  47. 

20  Acts  xx.  7. 

21  Acts  ii.  41. 

22  Acts  viii.  17. 
2"  Acts  xix.  18. 
24  Acts  xx.  7. 

25 1.  Cor.  xiv.  23  to  end. 
26  Acts  ii.    42. 
27 1.  Cor.  v.  9  to  end. 
28 1.  Cor.  vi.  7  to  end. 


26  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

God."  It  was  but  natural  that,  as  the  Church 
grew,  its  form  of  government  should  conform 
itself  to  that  of  the  mother  Church  at  Jerusalem. 
Here  we  find  St.  James,  the  resident  local  head, 
surrounded  by  a  band  of  elders,  or  presbyters, 
and  deacons.  Wherever  the  Church  went,  this 
came  to  be  the  established  order  of  local  Church 
government.  It  was  so  established  in  Asia  by  St. 
John,  who  was  the  accredited  organ  for  the  trans- 
mission of  the  mind  of  the  ascended  Lord  to  His 
Church  on  earth.  It  is  apparently  recognized  in 
the  Book  of  Kevelation,  where  we  find  each  local 
Church  under  the  supervision  of  its  Angel,  or 
Bishop.30  It  was  slower  in  its  development  in  some 
places,  like  Alexandria,  where  it  appears  that  sev- 
eral had  the  power  of  ordination.  This  might 
have  been  adopted  as  a  security  that  the  ordaining 
power  should  not  fail.  Here,  as  at  Corinth,  the 
principles  of  Episcopal  government  became,  by 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  finally  estab- 
lished. 

Episcopal  ordination  thus  became  the  rule  of 
the  Church,   and  continued  unbroken   for   1,500 


"Acts  i.  3. 
»<>Rev.  i.  ii.  Ml. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  27 

years.  "History/7  says  Bishop  Lightfoot,  who  has 
sometimes  been  thought  to  take  an  opposite  view, 
"seems  to  show  decisively,  that  before  the  end  of 
the  second  century  each  Church,  or  organized 
Christian  community,  had  its  three  orders  of 
Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons;  and  it  seems  vain 
to  deny  that  in  the  second  century  the  Episcopal 
orders  were  firmly  and  widely  established." 

Prof.  Harnack  wrote :  "The  Epistles  show  the 
monarchical  Episcopate  so  firmly  rooted,  so  highly 
elevated  above  all  other  offices,  so  completely  be- 
yond dispute." 

Such  was  the  government  of  the  Church.  It 
was  not  Congregational,  nor  Presbyterian,  nor 
Papal,  but  Episcopal.  But  while  each  Church 
had  a  certain  independency,  they  together  sub- 
mitted themselves  to  the  government  of  the  gen- 
eral Church.  The  Apostles,  exercising  a  juris- 
dictional  power,  sent  St.  Paul  to  the  gentiles,  and 
St.  Peter  to  those  of  the  circumcision.  The  Apos- 
tles, as  having  supreme  authority,  assembled  to- 
gether in  council  under  the  presidency  of  St. 
James,  with  the  elders  and  presbyters  at  Jeru- 


81  Lightfoot,  Christian  Ministry,  pp.  12-31. 


28  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

salem,  and  decided  points  of  discipline."  According 
to  Eusebius,33  there  was  a  second  council  after  the 
death  of  James  which  elected  Symeon  as  his  suc- 
cessor. St.  Peter  claimed  and  exercised  no  su- 
preme authority;  but  the  Church  was  bound  to- 
gether by  divine  charity  and  a  common  faith,  and 
appealed  in  need  to  a  general  council.  And  this  is 
the  present  position  of  the  Anglican  Communion. 

WITNESSES  TO  APOSTOLIC  TEACHING. 

Our  space  allows  the  citation  of  very  few  author- 
ities. Early  among  the  Fathers  was  St.  Ignatius, 
who  succeeded  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  at  Antioch,  and 
wrote  letters  to  several  churches  on  his  way  to  his 
martyrdom  at  Rome.  There  is  no  question  of  the 
genuineness  of  his  epistles,  as  has  been  demon- 
strated by  Bishop  Lightfoot.  St.  Ignatius  was  a 
very  old  man  when  he  wrote  about  the  year  110. 
He  bears  witness  to  the  supernatural  birth  of  our 
Lord,  and  also  to  the  reality  of  His  human  nature, 
the  denial  of  which  was  one  of  the  earliest  heresies. 
In  his  epistle  to  the  Trallians84  he  thus  declares 
that  Christ  was  truly  born,  and  ate  and  drank, 


"Acts  xv. 

88  Euseb.,  H.  E.,  111.  11 ;  Lightfoot,  G.  M.,  34. 

«« Ep.  ad  Trail.,  Book  III.,  §  9. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  29 

that  He  was  truly  persecuted  under  Pontius 
Pilate,  "was  truly  crucified  and  died/'  "and  was, 
moreover,  truly  raised  from  the  dead."  He  testi- 
fies to  the  common  establishment  of  the  three  or- 
ders of  the  Ministry,  the  acknowledged  supremacy 
of  the  Bishops,  the  dutiful  subordination  required 
of  the  Presbyters,  the  valued  services  of  the  Dea- 
cons, and  the  necessity  of  the  maintenance  of 
union  with  the  Apostolic  order  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Faith. 

He  writes,  "Let  all  men  respect  the  Deacons  of 
Jesus  Christ,  even  as  they  would  respect  the 
Bishop,  as  being  a  type  of  the  Father,  and  the 
Presbyters  as  the  Council  of  God.  Apart  from 
these,  there  is  not  even  the  name  of  a  Church." 
"When,"  he  wrote  to  the  Philadelphians,39  "I  was 
among  you,  I  spake  with  a  loud  voice,  with  God's 
own  voice,  Give  ye  heed  to  the  Bishop  and  the 
Presbytery  and  Deacons."  In  his  letter  to  Smyr- 
na, he  said,  "Do  ye  all  follow  your  Bishop  as 
Jesus  Christ  followed  the  Father,  and  the  Pres- 
bytery as  the  Apostles;  and  to  the  Deacons 
pay  respect  as  to  God's  commandment.  Let  no 


85  Ep.  Tral.,  III.,  3. 
««  Ep.  Phil.  |  7. 


30  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

man  do  aught  of  things  pertaining  to  the  Church 
apart  from  the  Bishop."  "When  ye  are  obedient 
to  the  Bishop,  as  to  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  evident  to 
me  that  ye  are  living,  not  after  man,  but  after 
Jesus  Christ.  ...  It  is  therefore  necessary, 
even  as  your  wont  is,  that  ye  should  do  nothing 
without  the  Bishop;  but  be  obedient  also  to  the 
Presbytery  as  to  the  Apostles." 

"As  many  as  are  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ, 
they  are  with  the  Bishop,  and  as  many  as  shall  re- 
pent and  enter  into  the  unity  of  the  Church,  these 
also  shall  be  of  God,  that  they  may  be  living  after 
Jesus  Christ." 

"Be  ye  careful  to  observe  one  Eucharist,37  for 
there  is  one  Flesh  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
one  Cup  unto  union  in  His  Blood.  Obey  the 
Bishop  and  the  Presbytery  without  distraction  of 
mind,  breaking  one  Bread,  which  is  the  medicine 
of  immortality  and  the  antidote  that  we  should 
not  die  but  live  forever  in  Jesus  Christ."  "They," 
speaking  of  heretics,  "abstain  from  Eucharist,  be- 
cause they  allow  not  that  the  Eucharist  is  the 
Flesh  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  which  Flesh 


87  Ep.  Phil.  v.   §  4. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  31 

suffered  for  our  sins,  and  which  the  Father  of  His 
goodness  raised  up." 

If  we  examine  the  writings  of  the  contempo- 
raries of  the  Apostles  such  as  St.  Barnabas,  or 
those  of  sub- Apostolic  times,  men  who  were  trained 
by  the  Apostles  themselves:  SS.  Ignatius,  Clement, 
Polycarp,  of  the  first  of  whom  Eusebius  records 
that  he  was  "a  disciple  of  St.  John" — we  find  the 
same  general  Apostolic  teaching.  They  bear  witness 
to  the  Episcopal  form  of  Church  government,  to  the 
divine  origin  and  grace  of  the  sacraments,  and  to 
the  liturgical  character  of  the  worship  of  the 
Church.89  The  connection  between  the  Apostles 
and  these,  their  followers,  is  beautifully  brought 
out  by  St.  Papias,  a  disciple  of  St.  John.  "If  at 
any  time,"  he  says,  "I  met  with  any  one  who  had 
been  a  follower  of  the  elders  anywhere,  I  made  it 
a  point  to  enquire  what  were  the  declarations  of 
the  elders,  what  was  said  by  Andrew,  Peter,  or 
Philip;  what  by  Thomas,  James,  John,  Matthew, 
or  any  others  of  the  disciples  of  our  Lord;  for  I 
do  not  think  I  derived  so  much  benefit  from  books 


38  Ep.   Smyrna,   §  6. 

39  Apostolic  Fathers,  Wake  ;  Patristic  Study,  Swete  ;  Age  of 
the  Fathers,  Bright. 


32  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

as  from  the  living  voice  of  those  that  are  still  sur- 
viving." 40 

Further,  we  may  say  concerning  the  Episco- 
pate, it  was  held  (we  quote  from  Bishop  Gore) 
that  "when  Hegesipus,  the  father  of  Church  His- 
tory, visited  the  West  about  A.  D.  167,  he  found 
a  succession  of  Bishops  in  each  city,  and  made  a 
list  of  the  Bishops  for  the  purpose  of  his  history 
at  Home."  This  fact  is  cited  in  Eusebius.42 

When  Irena3us,  the  great  representative  of  tra- 
dition, writes  against  the  Gnostics,  about  A.  D. 
180,  he  regards  "Episcopacy  as  amongst  the  first 
principles  of  the  Church,  and  as  the  supreme  safe- 
guard of  the  Orthodox  faith."  43  Tertullian,  about 
A.  D.  200,  uses  like  language  and  confronts  the 
Gnostic  churches  with  the  requirements  of  the 
Succession. 

So  the  fathers  bear  witness  to  other  doctrines. 
St.  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  born  A.  D.  69 
or  YO,  who  lived  to  be  one  hundred  years  old,  de- 
clares his  belief  in  the  Blessed  Trinity,  which  is 
thus  stated  in  his  prayer,  shortly  before  his  mar- 


*°Ecc.  His.,  Eusebius,  Ch.  xxxix.  p.  125. 

41  Orders  and  Unity,  Gore,  p.  126. 

42  Euseb.,  H.  E.,  iv.  22. 

43  Orders  and  Unity,  Gore,  p.  127. 


OF  THE 
UNIV£RS 

OF 


'  11 

;ITY 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  33 

tyrdom:  "True  and  faithful  God,  I  praise  Thee 
for  all  Thy  mercies;  I  bless  Thee,  I  glorify  Thee, 
through  the  Eternal  High  Priest,  Thy  beloved 
Son,  Jesus  Christ,  with  Whom,  to  Thyself  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  be  glory  now  and  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen."  St.  Clement,  whose  name  St.  Paul  tells 
us,  ais  in  the  book  of  Life,"  l4  wrote,  "Brethren, 
we  ought  so  to  think  of  Jesus  Christ  as  of  God, 
and  as  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead." 

St.  Justin  the  Martyr,  born  103,  the  noted 
Christian  philosopher,  wrote  a  great  apology  for 
Christianity.  He  bears  witness  to  the  liturgical 
and  sacrificial  character  of  Christian  worship.  He 
speaks  in  his  Dialogue  with  the  Jew  Trypho  of 
those  "who,  through  His  name,  offer  those  sacri- 
fices which  Jesus  Christ  commanded  to  be  offered, 
that  is,  which  are  offered  by  Christians  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  in  the  sacrament  of  bread  and 
wine."  He  states  in  his  Apol.  L,  "that  the  bread 
consecrated  for  thanksgiving,  by  the  prayer  of  the 
Word  which  is  from  Him,  is,  we  are  taught,  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  the  Incarnate  Jesus."  He 
teaches  also  that  baptism  is  the  instrument  of  re- 
generation. "We  lead  them,"  i.e.,  the  converts, 


"Phil.  iv.  3. 


34  THE  LINEAGE   OF 

"to  a  place  where  there  is  water,  and  there  they 
are  regenerated,  as  we  also  were,  for  they  are  then 
washed  in  that  water  in  the  name  of  God  the 
Father,  the  Lord  of  the  Universe,  and  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  is  done  in  order  that  we  may  obtain  in  the 
water  remission  of  the  sins  which  we  have  be- 
fore committed,  and  this  washing  is  called  "illu- 
mination." Christ  was  made  the  author  of  a  new 
race  who  are  regenerated  through  Him  by  water 
and  faith. 

But  while  in  all  this  we  have  the  objective  side 
of  Christianity  set  before  us,  and  the  means  Christ 
has  ordained  for  communicating  grace,  the  Fathers 
ever  insisted  upon  the  necessity  of  a  true  conver- 
sion and  a  living  Faith.  External  observances,  if 
rested  upon,  would  only  be  a  repetition  of  the  law. 
Christianity  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
St.  Irenaeus,  a  companion  of  St.  Polycarp,  speaks 
of  original  guilt  as  affecting  all  mankind,  and  born 
with  them ;  and  says  that  it  is  only  in  and  through 
Christ  that  it  is  forgiven.  He  speaks  of  baptism" 
as  the  means  by  which  forgiveness  is  conveyed,  and 
calls  it  regeneration.  We  have  here  the  doctrines 
of  the  early  Church.  Beside  them,  the  theology 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  35 

of  modern  Protestantism,  with  its  denial  of  the 
Episcopacy,  Priesthood,  and  the  sacrificial  offering 
of  the  Eucharist,  and  sacramental  grace,  seems  a 
very  imperfect  representation  of  the  Gospel. 

Thus  much  concerning  the  doctrinal  teaching 
of  the  early  Church.  We  shall  next  consider  what 
was  the  worship  of  the  Church  in  those  primitive 
times  to  which  we  look  for  our  model. 

THE  WOBSIIIP  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

It  is  not  only  interesting  but  useful  to  learn 
what  we  may  from  our  scanty  records  of  the  time 
concerning  the  worship  and  general  service  of  the 
early  Church.  The  Apostles,  as  Jews,  were  ac- 
customed to  two  forms  of  service — that  of  the 
Synagogue  and  that  of  the  Temple.  They  differed 
in  kind,  the  Synagogue  service  being  that  of  read- 
ing from  the  Scriptures,  prayer,  exhortation,  and 
praise;  and  the  Temple  worship  being  that  of 
sacrifice.  These  were  the  two  forms  which  God 
from  the  earliest  times  had  ordained,  and  which 
the  Apostles,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  were  to  continue.  We  find  them  thus  as- 
sembling in  Solomon's  Porch40  at  the  hour  of 
prayer,  for  their  common  and  united  devotional 


"  Acts  iii.  1,  11. 


36  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

exercises.  They  assembled  daily,  probably  in  the 
Upper  Chamber,  for  the  Holy  Eucharist,  or  Break- 
ing of  the  Bread.49  These  two  forms  of  service 
have  been  continued  in  the  Christian  Church, 
under  the  two  forms  of  the  recitation  of  the  Divine 
Office,  and  the  offering  of  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice 
of  the  altar. 

As  the  Holy  Communion,  when  established  by 
our  Lord,  was  preceded  by  the  Paschal  Supper,  it 
came  about  that  the  Apostles  at  first  connected  a 
social  meal,  called  the  Agape  or  Love  Eeast,  with 
the  Holy  Eucharist.  But  the  disorder  which  arose 
at  Corinth  led  to  St.  Paul's  stern  rebuke,  and  his 
taking  "order"  as  he  said,47  concerning  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Holy  Communion.  He  did  this 
probably  in  consultation  with  the  other  Apostles. 
Therefore  we  find  these  two  services  presently 
separated,  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  century,  ac- 
cording to  a  well-known  letter  of  Pliny  to  the 
Eoman  Emperor,  the  Christians  assembled  early  in 
the  morning  for  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist. 

Though  for  a  time  the  Sabbath  was  kept  along 
with  the  Lord's  Day,  eventually  the  first  day  of 


48  Acts  ii.  42. 
"  I.  Cor.  xl.  34. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  37 

the  week  became  the  day  observed  by  Christians 
in  obedience  to  the  command  to  keep  one  day  in 
seven.48  As  God,  through  Moses,  ordained  a  day 
to  be  kept  in  commemoration  of  His  work  in  crea- 
tion; through  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Church  was 
guided  to  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week  in  com- 
memoration of  the  beginning  of  the  new  Creation. 
It  began  by  Christ's  rising  from  the  dead.  To  go 
back  to  Saturday,  as  the  Seventh-day  Adventists 
have  done,  is  to  introduce  a  decadent  Jewish  order 
into  the  Christian  religion.49 

The  order  of  the  Eucharistic  service  is,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Augustine,  set  forth  in  I.  Tim.  ii.  I,50 
(1)  "supplications,"  before  the  canon;  (2)  "pray- 
ers," especially  at  the  consecration;  followed  by 
(3)  "intercessions,"  between  the  prayers  and  the 
blessing ;  and  lastly,  (4)  the-  "thanksgiving,"  such 
as  our  Gloria  in  Excelsis  at  the  end.  The  authority 
for  using  forms  of  prayer  had  been  given  by  our 
Lord,  when  He  said,  "After  this  manner  pray 
ye."  51  And  that  manner  was  a  prescribed  form. 

Forms  of  prayer  and  blessing  had  been  set 


"Acts  xx.   7. 

49  Liddon's  Sermon  on  the  Lord's  Day. 

80 1.  Tim.  ii.  1. 

11  St.  Matt.  vi.  9. 


38  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

forth  in  the  old  Dispensation  also;  and  early  it 
may  have  been,  that  the  inspired  evangelical  hymns 
of  the  Magnificat,52  Benedictus,53  and  Nunc  Dimit- 
tis™  began  to  be  used.  As  Christ,  taking  part  in 
the  Synagogue  service65  prayed  for  the  departed, 
the  Church  followed  His  example.  St.  Paul  re- 
members Onesiphorus,  who  had  probably  passed 
away,  and  prays  "that  God  may  have  mercy  on  him 
in  that  day."  The  petition  in  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
"Thy  Kingdom  come/'  includes  the  departed  as 
well  as  the  living  here  on  earth.  We  know  cer- 
tainly that  hymns  formed  part  of  the  service,  for 
St.  Paul  speaks  of  "psalms  and  hymns  and  spirit- 
ual songs,"  "  and  that  the  people  took  a  responsive 
part  by  joining  in  the  Amen  at  the  Eucharistic 
prayer.  It  is  much  disputed  what  kind  of  bread 
was  used;  but  it  was  probably  unleavened,  as  at 
the  time  of  the  Passover  all  leaven  had  been  put 
away.88  It  was  natural  that  the  mixed  chalice 
should  be  used;  since  it  was  the  custom  to  mix  a 
little  water  with  the  cup  at  the  Feast  of  the  Pass- 


52  St.  Luke  i.  46. 

53  St.  Luke  i.  68. 
•*  St.  Luke  ii.  29. 
65  St.   Luke  iv.   16. 
sen.  Tim.  i.  18. 
87Eph.  v.  19. 
88Exod.  xil.   15. 


THE   AMERICAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH.  39 

over.  Holy  Communion  was  given  in  both  kinds 
(I.  Cor.  x.  16),  as  commanded;  and  the  Sacrament 
was  reserved  and  carried  to  the  absent,  unable  by 
illness  to  attend.  Clement  of  Alexandria  makes 
mention,  writing  at  the  end  of  the  second  century 
(A.  D.  190),  of  the  blessing  of  the  oil  for  the 
anointing  of  the  sick  as  St.  James  had  ordered.59 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  lights  as  a  religious 
symbol  were  used,  for  we  find  it  recorded  at  the 
Eucharistic  celebration  at  Troas  that  "there  were 
many  lights."  Unless  there  was  some  religious  or 
symbolical  meaning  in  this,  it  is  not  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  it  would  find  place  in  an  inspired 
writing. 

Lange  says :  "The  word  lights  includes  torches, 
candles,  lanterns,  all  of  which  were  due  to  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion  at  Troas.  There  is  noth- 
ing to  show  that  the  young  man  who  fell  down 
dead  was  overcome  by  the  lights.  The  lights,  be- 
sides being  symbolical  of  Christ  as  the  Light  of 
the  World,  also  connected  the  celebration  with  the 
Last  Supper,  where  lights  were  a  necessity."  "The 
symbolical  use  of  lights  prevailed  in  the  Church 


"St.   James  v.  14. 
««  Acts  xx.  8. 


40  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

from  very  early  times."  They  were  used  at 
the  Gospel,  St.  Jerome  says,  "as  the  expression 
and  symbol  of  joy."  Silvia,  the  traveller,  tells  of 
the  ahuge  glass  candlesticks,  the  numerous  torches, 
and  the  infinite  luminaries  used  in  the  churches 
and  services  on  her  visit  to  Jerusalem.'8  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  vestment  which  St.  Paul  left  behind 
at  Troas"  after  the  celebration,  was  one  used  by 
him  in  the  service.  The  word  used  might  signify 
either  a  vestment  of  peculiar  character  or  the  over- 
garment which  the  Apostles  would  personally 
wear.  It  is  not,  however,  likely  that  St.  Paul 
would  leave  his  outer  garment  behind  when  he  was 
about  to  take  a  sea  voyage,  but  very  naturally,  he 
might  have  left  his  Eucharistic  vestment,  together 
with  the  books  or  parchments  needed,  in  the  safe- 
keeping of  Carpus,  who  was  probably  the  ruler  in 
the  Synagogue,  to  be  brought  to  him  by  Timothy. 
The  two  vestments,  alb  and  chasuble,  used  by 
many  of  our  clergy,  have  probably  been  derived, 
not  from  Jewish  or  Roman  sources,  but  from  the 
ordinary  dress  of  the  Apostles.  As  such,  they  bear 


91  Rackman. 

62  Duchesne,   Origines,  473. 

"II.  Tim.  Iv.  13. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  41 

witness  to  their  Apostolic  origin  and  the  con- 
tinuity of  our  Church,  and  should  not  be  a  matter 
of  dissension.  St.  John,  Eusebius  relates,  wore 
"a  sacerdotal  plate,"  64  certainly  some  sacredotal  or- 
nament, doubtless  a  reference,  says  Lightfoot,  "to 
the  metal  plate  on  the  High  Priest's  mitre." 
"Possibly  this,"  he  observes,  "was  a  mitre."  And 
we  find  Polycrates  saying  that  St.  John  was  a 
priest,  "wearing  the  mitre."  We  find  that  the 
sign  of  the  Cross  came  into  use  quite  early,  for 
Tertullian  tells  us  that  "in  all  the  ordinary  ac- 
tions of  daily  life,  we  trace  upon  the  forehead  the 
sign  of  the  cross." 

The  ceremony  of  the  kiss  of  peace60  was  a 
scriptural  injunction.  We  find  that  in  the  church, 
the  men  and  the  women  were  divided ;  the  women, 
sitting  on  one  side  by  themselves,  gave  and  re- 
ceived a  kiss  of  peace  amongst  themselves,  and  the 
men  on  the  other  side  would  do  the  same  thing 
amongst  themselves.  It  is  thus  observed  that  the 
Church's  service  was  like  that  of  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion, and  from  the  beginning  was  liturgical,  cere- 
monial, and  in  a  degree  choral.  The  Church  was 


"Euseb.,  Book  III.,  Ch.  31. 
95  Vol.  I.,  p.  166. 
88  Rom.  xvi.  16. 


42  THE  LINEAGE   OF 

of  course  hampered  during  the  first  three  centuries 
by  intermittent  persecutions.  She  had,  at  times, 
to  hide  herself  in  the  Catacombs.  But  she  had 
church  buildings  and  Bishops'  residences,  and  was 
a  visible  body.  We  find,  for  instance,  Paul  of 
Samosata,  when  deposed  in  260,  refusing  to  vacate 
his  church  or  house. 

The  Church  had  received  moreover  from  her 
ascended  Lord,  through  St.  John,  the  details  of  the 
heavenly  worship,07  where  God  is  worshipped  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  So,  just  as  in  the  Old  Dis- 
pensation, God  had  taken  Moses  up  into  heaven, 
and  Moses  established  the  Jewish  worship  after  the 
pattern  of  things  he  had  seen  in  the  Mount,68  so 
God,  in  the  New  Dispensation,  took  St.  John  up 
into  heaven,  and  the  glorious  worship  he  there  be- 
held became  the  directory  of  the  Apostolic  Church. 
There  St.  John  found  "vestments,"  °9  lights,70  in- 
cense,71 and  choral  service  ;72  and  the  Church,  when 
she  gained  her  full  freedom,  developed  her  worship 
and  ceremonial  after  the  heavenly  pattern.  Dr. 
Bright  has  forcibly  brought  home  the  lesson  in  his 
noble  poem  on  Ritual : 


87  Rev.  iv.  70Rev.  iv.  5. 

68  Ex.  xxv.  34.  71  Rev.  viii.  3. 

89  Rev.  iv.  4.  "Rev.   v.   9-12. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  43 

RITUAL. 
When  to  Thy  beloved  on  Patmos 

Through  the  open  door  in  Heaven, 
Visions  of  the  perfect  worship, 

Saviour!  by  Thy  love  were  given, 
Surely  there  was  truth  and  spirit, 

Surely  there  a  pattern  shown 
How  Thy  Church  should  do  her  service 

When  she  came  before  the  Throne. 

0  the  censer-bearing  Elders, 

Crowned  with  gold  and  robed  in  white! 
0  the  Living  Creatures'  anthem, 

Never  resting  day  or  night! 
And  the  thousand  choirs  of  Angels, 

With  their  voices  like  the  sea, 
Singing  praise  to  God  the  Father, 

And,  0  Victim  Lamb,  to  Thee! 

'Tis  for  Thee  we  bid  the  frontal 

Its  embroidered  wealth  unfold, 
'Tis  for  Thee  we  deck  the  reredos 

With  the  colours  and  the  gold; 
Thine  the  floral  glow  and  fragrance, 

Thine  the  vesture's  fair  array, 
Thine  the  starry  lights  that  glitter 

Where  Thou  dost  Thy  Light  display. 

Lord,  bring  home  the  glorious  lesson 

To  their  hearts,  who  strangely  deem 
That  an  unmajestic  worship 

Doth  Thy  Majesty  beseem; 
Show  them  more  of  Thy  dear  Presence, 

Let  them,  let  them  come  to  know 
That  our  King  is  throned  among  us, 

And  His  Church  is  Heaven  below. 


44  THE  LINEAGE. 


BOOKS  CONSULTED  AND  REFERRED  TO  IN 
CHAPTER  II. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.    Ragg  and  Rackham. 

Letters  of  St.  Ignatius.     Lightfoot. 

The  Apostolic  Fathers.    Wake. 

Epistles  of  St.  Clement.     Lightfoot. 

Irenaeus,  Oxford  Edition. 

Tertullian,  Oxford  Edition. 

Eusebius,  History. 

Sozomen,  History. 

Age  of  the  Fathers.    Bright. 

Apostolic  Fathers.    Burton. 

Patristic  Study.    Prof.  Swete. 

Voice  of  the  Fathers.     Caulfield. 

The  City  of  God.     St.  Augustine. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  BRITAIN. 

WE  DO  NOT  know  at  what  time,  or  by  whom, 
Christianity  was  introduced  into  Britain,  any  more 
than  we  know  who  carried  it  to  Rome.  Doubtless 
as  the  disciples  were  dispersed  by  persecution  and 
went  hither  and  thither,  they  told  of  Christ  and 
proclaimed  the  Gospel. 

There  is  a  beautiful  legend  of  St.  Joseph  of 
Arimathsea,  who  was  banished  from  Palestine  by 
the  Jews,  and  who,  with  twelve  companions,  came 
to  Britain,  bringing  with  him  the  Holy  Grail.  He 
preached  in  the  Isle  of  Avalon,  where  in  confirma- 
tion of  his  teaching,  he  stuck  his  staff  of  thorn  into 
the  ground,  whereupon  it  blossomed  like  Aaron's 
rod,  and  grew  into  a  tree.  Here  the  famous 
church  and  monastery  of  Glastonbury  were 


46  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

founded.  There  is  another  story  that1  Lucius,  the 
British  King,  sent  to  Eleuthereus,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
a  letter  expressing  a  desire  to  be  a  Christian.  This 
statement  has  been  traced  to  a  fabrication  in  Rome 
in  the  fifth  century.  For  lack  of  authority,  the 
story  has  led  modern  historians  to  reject  it.2  The 
Abbe  Duchesne  says :  "This  legend  had  a  Roman, 
not  a  British,  origin,  and  may  probably  have  been 
invented  in  the  fifth  century."  There  is  also  a 
Welsh  legend  about  Bran  the  Blessed,  found  in  the 
Welsh  Triads,  collected  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
It  relates  how  Bran,  the  father  of  Caractacus,  hav- 
ing been  detained  by  the  Emperor  Claudius  for 
seven  years  at  Rome,  as  a  hostage  for  his  son,  was 
there  converted  by  St.  Paul,  and  on  his  release 
carried  the  faith  back  to  Britain,  and  planted  the 
Church  there.3  Oddly  enough,  the  idea  that  St. 
Peter  came  to  Britain  has  cropped  up  many  times, 
and  in  widely  different  places,  an  error  probably 
owing  to  a  misapprehension  of  the  fact  of  the  send- 
ing of  the  monk  St.  Augustine  to  England  by  Pope 
Gregory.  This  view  has  even  been  put  forth  by 
a  Roman  Catholic  clergyman  of  our  own  day.  We 


1  Hore,  Hist.  Ch.  Eng.,  p.  3. 

2  Bright,  Early  Eng.  Ch.  Hist.,  p.  4. 
8  Cutts,  Hist.  Eng.  Ch.,  p.  6. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  47 

have  to  be  ever  on  our  guard  against  accepting 
like  untrustworthy  legends  for,  as  Professor  Col- 
lins says/  "when  there  was  a  demand  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  for  any  conceivable  information  on  any 
conceivable  subject,  there  was  always  some  one 
ready  to  supply  it."  However  controversialists 
may  have  adopted  any  of  these  stories,  truth  bids 
us  not  to  use  them. 

THE  ACCOUNT  OF  ST.  PAUL. 

The  account  of  St.  Paul  visiting  Britain  has 
more  probability  attached  to  it.  Caractacus,  the 
noble  British  Chief,  had  been  pardoned,  and  sent 
by  Rome  back  to  his  native  country  to  rule  over 
his  tribe  as  a  Roman  official.  His  father  Bran, 
and  his  son  and  daughter  Lyn  and  Claudia,  were 
retained  in  Rome  as  hostages.  They  were  there 
at  the  same  time  St.  Paul  was  there  in  residence. 
He  lived  in  his  own  hired  house,  and  made  con- 
verts among  Caesar's  household. 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  St.  Paul  makes 
mention  of  Linus,  Pudens,  and  Claudia.  Is  not 
Linus  the  same  as  Lyn  ?  A  Claudia  is  commemo- 
rated by  the  historian  Martial  as  married  to  Pu- 


*  Collins,  Eng.  Christianity,  43. 


48  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

dens,  the  son  of  a  Roman  senator.  It  would  seem 
therefore  that  the  Linus  and  Claudia,  mentioned 
as  his  converts  by  St.  Paul,  were  the  children  of 
the  British  chief.  Now  it  is  a  fair  inference,  in- 
deed a  certain  one,  that  Lyn  and  Claudia  would 
urge  St.  Paul  to  visit  Britain  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  their  own  people.  Certainly,  St.  Paul  would 
have  regarded  this  as  a  providential  opening,  and 
a  call  from  God.  The  commission  he  had  received 
from  Christ  and  the  Apostles  ran  to  all  the  Gentile 
world.  As  he  was  on  his  way  to  Spain,  why 
should  he  not  extend  his  journey  to  Britain? 
Lightfoot,  in  his  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  says  St.  Paul  probably  went  to  Gaul. 
It  would  be  easy  for  him  then  to  cross  over  to 
Britain.  This  theory  has  for  its  corroboration  the 
statement  of  St.  Clement  that  aSt.  Paul  is  said  to 
have  come  to  the  boundary  of  the  West,"  or,  as  it 
is  otherwise  translated,  "furthest  limits  of  the 
West."  ISTow  Spain  was  not  a  boundary  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  but  Britain  was.5  The  expression 
"furthest  limits  of  the  West,"  is  a  phrase  which  in 
Roman  literature  of  the  time  was  understood  to 
include  Britain. 


6  Lane's  Illus.  Ch.  His.,  p.  6. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  49 

We  may  agree  with  Dr.  Bright  and  Professor 
Collins  in  holding  St.  Paul's  visit  not  to  be  an 
ascertained  historical  fact,  but  yet  hold  it  to  be  one 
of  considerable  probability.  It  seems  like  unto 
that  of  St.  Peter's  residence  at  Rome.  Our  Lord 
did  not  bid  blessed  Peter  go  to  Rome,  as  he  did 
St.  Paul.  There  is  no  explicit  statement  in  Scrip- 
ture that  he  was  ever  there.  There  is  no  contem- 
porary witness  to  the  fact.  There  is  no  clear  state- 
ment of  St.  Peter,  nothing  in  contemporary  his- 
tory to  confirm  it.  There  is  the  tradition  that 
he  was  martyred  there,  and  upon  this  it  is  claimed 
that  his  body  was  buried  there.  So  we  may  accept 
his  having  been  there  as  a  probable  event.  It  is 
not,  however,  an  ascertained  historical  fact,  upon 
which  a  dogma  can  rightly  be  based. 

In  like  manner,  may  we  not  hold  as  probable 
that  St.  Paul  visited  Britain?  May  we  not  be- 
lieve with  Irenseus,  who  was  born  in  97,  that  the 
Church  was  extended  "by  the  Apostles  to  the  ut- 
most bounds  of  the  West,  and  to  the  Celts"  ?  Gil- 
das,  the  British  historian,  after  describing  the  de- 
feat of  Boadicea  in  61,  wrote:  "In  the  meantime, 
Christ  the  true  Sun,  for  the  first  time  cast  His  rays 
on  this  island."  Eusebius,  in  his  history,  says: 


50  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

"Apostles  crossed  the  ocean  to  those  islands  which 
are  called  British."  Charles  Butler,  a  Roman 
Catholic  wrote:  "It  is  probable  that  Christianity 
was  disseminated  over  parts  of  Britain  during  the 
Apostolic  age."  Hore,  a  notable  scholar,  in  sum- 
ming up  the  authorities,  says:  "There  can  be  no 
reasonable  ground  for  doubting  that  the  British 
Church  was  not  only  a  very  ancient  one,  but  also 
of  Apostolic  foundation." 

THE  PLANTING  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

It  is  regarded  as  probable  that  either  in  the 
Apostolic  or  sub-Apostolic  age,  Christianity  had 
entered  into  Britain.  It  was  certainly  there  in 
organized  form,  by  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century.  It  came,  not  from  Rome,  but  from  Gaul. 
"In  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  about  170,  a 
mission  consisting  of  Bishop  Pothinus  and  a 
presbyter,  Irenseus,  a  pupil  of  St.  Polycarp,  who 
had  been  a  pupil  of  St.  John,  left  Asia  Minor. 
Sailing  along  the  Mediterranean,  they  came  to 
Marseilles  and  thence  up  the  Rhone  to  the  middle 
of  Gaul.  There  at  Vienne,  near  Lyons,  they 
founded  a  church.  From  thence  Christianity  went, 


6  Hore,   Eighteen  Centuries. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  51 

perhaps  pushed  by  persecution,  further  north,  until 
finally  missionaries  crossed  the  Channel  and 
planted  the  Church  in  Britain."  Not  only  is 
Christianity  thus  early  found  in  Britain,  but  it  is 
in  its  organized  form  of  Episcopal  government. 
The  proof  of  this  is  that  we  have  the  names  of 
three  Bishops  of  Britain  who  attended  the  great 
Council  of  Aries,  called  in  the  year  314  to  pass 
on  the  Donatist  heresy.  The  records  of  this  Coun- 
cil give  the  names  of  these  three  British  Bishops 
who  attended,  Eborius  of  York,  Restitutus  of  Lon- 
don, and  Adelphius,  Bishop  of  Colonia  Londin- 
ensium  (probably  from  Caerleon,  Wales).  These 
were  accompanied  by  a  presbyter,  Sacerdos,  and  a 
deacon,  Arminius.8  This  fact  shows  that  by  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  Church  was 
established  in  Britain  as  far  north  as  York,  and 
probably  as  far  west  as  Caerleon;  that  it  had  a 
diocesan  Episcopate,  and  the  three  orders  of  the 
ministry;  that  it  was  in  communion  with  other 
churches  of  the  Empire;  and  that  it  was  of  suffi- 
cient importance  to  be  summoned  to  a  great  and 
important  Council.  Later  on  also,  in  359,  we  find 


1  Cutts'  Hist.  Ch.  Eng.,  p.  30. 

8  Hore,  Ch.  of  Eng. ;  Cutts'  Eng.  Ch.  History,  p.  14. 


52  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

British  Bishops  taking  part  in  the  Council  of 
Ariminum.  The  poverty  of  these  Bishops  is  ex- 
pressly mentioned  by  Sulpicius  Severus,  who  bears 
witness  to  the  existence  and  temporal  condition  of 
their  church. 

There  are  also  many  subordinate  evidences  of 
an  early  existence  of  the  Church  in  Britain.  The 
remains  of  an  early  church  building  have  been  dis- 
covered at  Silchester.  Fragments  of  pottery  with 
the  holy  sign  have  been  upturned,  a  coin  bearing 
the  Alpha  and  Omega,  and  grave-stones  with  the 
inscription  "a  Christian  sleeps  below,"  have  been 
found.9  The  Church  came,  as  we  have  seen,  from 
Gaul,  not  from  Kome  or  directly  from  an  Eastern 
source. 

In  410,  a  great  political  event  happened.  The 
capture  of  Rome  by  Alaric  shook  the  foundations 
of  civilization.  "To  St.  Jerome,  in  his  cell  at 
Bethlehem,  the  news  came  like  the  shock  of  an 
earthquake."  He  says,  "My  voice  falters,  sobs 
stifle  the  words  I  dictate ;  for  she  is  a  captive,  that 
city  which  outrivalled  the  world."  To  St.  Augus- 
tine, it  was  the  judgment  of  God  upon  "the  profli- 
gate manners,  the  effeminacy,  and  the  pride  of  her 


•Bright's  Early  Ch.  His.,  p.  11. 


MARTYRDOM    OF    ST.    ALBAN. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  53 

citizens."  The  Roman  government  was  forced,  for 
its  own  self  protection,  to  withdraw  its  garrison 
from  Britain,  where  they  had  been  for  nigh  four 
hundred  years.  The  Romans  had  done  much 
there  for  civilization,  and  somewhat  for  Christi- 
anity. Converts  had  been  made,  and  churches  had 
grown  up  about  their  settlements.  The  literary  re- 
mains are  scanty  of  this  time,  but  two  interesting 
incidents  relating  to  this  period  are  commonly 
stated  by  historians.  One  of  them  is  of  the  enno- 
bling heroism  of  Britain's  first  martyr,  St.  Alban. 
While  Alban  was  still  a  heathen,  we  read  that  one 
day  there  came  to  his  house  a  priest,  to  whom  Al- 
ban gave  shelter  from  his  persecutors.  Alban  saw 
that  the  stranger  was  very  devout  and  holy,  and 
marked  his  spending  many  hours  in  prayer.  He 
opened  the  Gospel  to  Alban,  and  led  him  to  believe 
in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  at  last  the  hiding 
place  of  the  priest  was  discovered,  and  the  soldiers 
came  and  surrounded  it.  St.  Alban,  perceiving 
the  danger,  dressed  himself  in  the  priest's  clothes, 
so  that  the  soldiers,  breaking  in,  and  seeing  him  in 
the  habit  of  a  priest,  seized  him  and  dragged  him 
before  the  Judge.  With  fearless  courage,  Alban 
declared  that  he  was  a  Christian.  Though  he  was 


54  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tortured  to  make  him  deny  the  Faith,  he  remained 
faithful,  and  was  led  out  to  execution.  The  soldier 
whose  duty  it  was  to  execute  him  was  so  struck  by 
Alban's  splendid  courage  that,  throwing  away  his 
sword,  he  declared  himself  also  a  Christian.  It 
was  an  instance  of  the  extension  of  the  Faith  from 
one  brave  heart  to  another  by  the  power  of  the 
Spirit.  The  great  Abbey  of  St.  Albans,  lately  re- 
stored, is  a  memorial  of  the  heroic  devotion  of 
these  early  Christians.  The  other  instance  is  that 
of  the  Alleluia  Battle.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
fifth  century,  a  momentous  theological  controversy 
arose.  Pelagius,  whose  Celtic  name  was  Morgan, 
went  astray  by  over-rating  the  power  of  the  human 
will  and  denying  the  necessity  of  internal  grace. 
The  heresy,  as  all  rationalistic  speculations  are, 
was  attractive  to  some  of  the  laity.  Britain  natur- 
ally made  an  appeal  to  her  Mother  Church  of  Gaul 
for  aid  in  the  controversy.  The  Gallican  Church, 
we  read,  summoned  a  synod,  which  sent  to  the  aid 
of  the  Church  in  Britain  two  of  her  greatest  Bish- 
ops, Germanus  and  Lupus.10  The  authority  for 
this  statement  is  found  in  the  life  of  St.  Germanua, 


"Bright's  Early  Eng.  Ch.  Hist.,  pp.  15,  16. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  55 

by  Constantius  of  Lyons,  who  wrote  some  sixty 
years  after  the  decease  of  St.  Germanus,  with  full 
access  to  local  information.  With  respect  to  this 
controversy  Constantius  gives  as  his  authority  the 
action  of  the  synod.  His  account  is  copied  by  the 
Venerable  Bede,  who  states  that  the  prelates,  Ger- 
manus of  Auxerre  and  Lupus  of  Troyes,  were  sent 
over  by  a  synod  to  uphold  in  Britain  the  belief 
in  Divine  Grace.11  Prosper,  another  writer,  says 
that  Germanus  was  sent  by  the  Bishop  of  Home. 
But  properly  the  official  record  of  the  synod  is  to 
be  taken  as  a  more  reliable  evidence  than  the  un- 
supported and  probably  hearsay  report  recorded  by 
Prosper.  Possibly  the  Pope  might  have  sent  his 
blessing  to  Germanus,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
the  British  Church  in  its  need  appealed  to  Gaul, 
and  not  to  Rome.  This  was  about  the  year  429. 
We  are  told  that  at  a  conference  between  the  Pela- 
gians and  the  Gallican  Bishops,  the  Gallic  party 
triumphed.  After  this,  the  invasion  of  Picts  and 
Scots  followed. 

We  now  come  to  the  Alleluia  battle.  Germanus 
and  Lupus,  the  Gallic  Bishops,  encouraged  the 
Britons  to  resist  the  invaders.  They  preached  the 


11  Cutts'  Eng.  Turning  Points,  p.  16. 


56  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Gospel  and  brought  a  large  number  to  Christ  and 
to  baptism.  Here  we  quote  largely  from  Professor 
Bright :  "On  Easter  Eve,  the  baptisms  were  admin- 
istered, the  great  Feast  was  celebrated  in  a  church 
formed  out  of  the  boughs  of  trees,  the  British  host 
advanced  to  the  battle,  the  greater  part  of  it  fresh 
from  the  laver.  Their  general  drew  them  up  as  if 
in  ambush,  under  the  rocks  of  a  narrow  glen  which 
he  had  ascertained  to  lie  full  in  the  path  of  the 
enemy.  As  the  first  ranks  of  the  heathen  drew 
near,  expecting  an  easy  triumph,  Germanus  made 
the  British  people  shout  after  him  the  one  sacred 
joyous  word,  which  they  had  so  lately  uttered  in 
their  paschal  solemnities.  Three  times  he  and 
Lupus  intoned  it,  Alleluia,  Alleluia,  Alleluia. 
Their  followers  with  one  voice  made  the  sound  echo 
through  the  valley.  It  rang  from  cliff  to  cliff.  It 
struck  the  invaders  with  panic.  They  fled  as  if 
the  very  skies  were  crashing  over  them.  The  Brit- 
ons, successful  without  striking  a  blow,  exulted  in 
a  victory  won  by  faith,  without  bloodshed."  This 
is  the  story  of  the  great  Alleluia  victory. 

On  the  withdrawal  of  the  Romans,  the  Britons, 
who  had  been  originally  disarmed  by  their  con- 
querors, and  thus  rendered  unaccustomed  to  war- 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  57 

fare,  were  left  practically  defenceless.  The  coun- 
try was  left  open  to  a  great  invasion  of  Jutes, 
Angles,  and  Saxons,  coming  from  different  parts  of 
the  continent.  The  three  are  commonly  spoken  of 
as  Anglo-Saxons.  The  first  work  of  the  new  in- 
vaders was  to  stamp  out  with  fire  and  sword  every 
trace  of  Roman  civilization.  "They  seemed,"  says 
Professor  Rollinston,  "to  have  a  great  aptness  for 
destroying  and  great  slowness  in  elaborating  ma- 
terial civilization."  These  heathen  Anglo-Saxons, 
we  read,  drove  away  or  enslaved  the  Romanized 
and  Christianized  Celts,  broke  down  every  vestige 
of  Christian  civilization,  destroyed  the  churches, 
burnt  the  villas,  laid  waste  many  of  the  towns,  and 
reintroduced  a  long  period  of  pagan  barbarism. 
We  quote  from  Grant  Allen  :13  "These  Anglo-Sax- 
ons were  a  horde  of  barbarous  heathen  pirates. 
They  massacred  or  enslaved  half  the  civilized  Cel- 
tic inhabitants  with  savage  ruthlessness.  They  let 
the  roads  and  cities  fall  into  utter  disrepair.  They 
stamped  out  Christianity  with  fire  and  sword 
from  end  to  end  of  their  new  domain."  As  Gildas 
the  historian,  with  Celtic  fervor,  phrases  it :  "The 


12  Anglo-Saxon  Britain,  Allen,  p.   25. 

13  Anglo-Saxon  Britain,  Allen,  p.  46. 


58  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

red  tongue  of  flame  licked  up  the  whole  land  from 
end  to  end,  till  it  slaked  its  horrid  thirst  in  the 
western  ocean."  There  is  however  a  difference 
among  scholars  to-day  as  to  the  extent  of  the  Saxon 
destructions.  The  remains  lately  found  go  to  show 
it  was  not  so  complete  an  extermination  as  has  been 
represented  by  some  historians.  The  Church, 
though  enfeebled,  continued  to  exist. 

THE  SCOTIC  CHURCH. 

When  we  look  to  the  Scotic  Church,  we  find 
it  existing  in  an  early  period  of  the  fourth  century. 
Here  came  St.  Ninian,  about  397,  and  "preached 
the  word  to  the  southern  Picts."  The  work  was 
developed  under  St.  Kentigern,  and  St.  Columba 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century.  The  latter, 
having  done  much  in  Ireland,  desired  to  "sojourn 
abroad  for  Christ's  sake,"  and  at  Whitsuntide,  563, 
settled  at  lona,  and  there  founded  that  famous 
missionary  monastery.  "He  was,"  says  Adamnan, 
"angelic  in  aspect,  clear  in  speech,  holy  in  conduct, 
great  in  counsel;  never  did  a  single  hour  pass  in 
which  he  was  not  engaged  in  prayer  or  pious 
work."  "He  was,"  writes  Bright,  "a  grand  saint, 
and  a  man  of  extraordinary  courage,  perseverance, 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  59 

energy,  and  determination,  born  to  guide  minds 
and  also  to  win  hearts."  Most  have  heard  the 
story  of  his  passing  when  the  old  monastic  horse 
thrust  his  head  into  Columba's  bosom,  and  the  old 
monk  said,  "Let  him  alone,  he  loves  me."  His 
dying  suggestion  to  his  monks  was  to  mutual  char- 
ity :  "But  you  who  must  rule  after  me ;  remember 
no  deed  can  last,  but  only  Love." 

NATIVE  BRITISH  CHURCH. 

At  the  dawning  of  the  fifth  century,  the  whole 
of  the  west  coast  of  England,  Cornwall,  Wales, 
Cumberland,  from  Land's  End  to  the  Clyde,  was 
being  covered  by  the  native  British  Church.  "At 
this  period,"  says  Dr.  Bright,  "the  headquarters 
of  the  British  Church  was  Wales."  In  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  a  religious  revival  took  place. 
The  Welsh  Episcopacy  then  became  regularly  dioc- 
esan. It  had  its  yearly  synods,  but  it  had  no 
Metropolitan.  It  is  of  interest  to  observe  how 
David,  commonly  known  as  St.  David,  when  travel- 
ling in  the  Holy  Land,  in  the  sixth  century,  was 
there  consecrated  by  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem. 
He  became  the  Archbishop  of  the  See  of  St. 
David's,  which  subsequently  was  named  after  him. 


60  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

In  the  year  1115  the  Welsh  Bishops  became  united 
with  the  English  Church,  under  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  Eventually  the  Bishop  of  Landaff,  a 
successor  in  this  line,  united  with  Laud  in  his  con- 
secrations and  thus  passed  on  the  ancient  British 
succession  from  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem. 

THE  CELTIC  CHUKCH. 

The  planting  of  Christianity  in  Ireland  is  ob- 
scure. It  was  carried  there  probably  by  Christians 
from  Britain.  Palladius,  in  431,  is  spoken  of  as 
the  first  Bishop  of  the  Irish,  but  he  is  reported  as 
practically  failing  in  his  work.  The  great  name 
that  looms  up  before  us  is  that  of  St.  Patrick.  So 
many  legends  have  surrounded  his  life  that  it  is 
difficult  to  know  what  is  true.  The  only  reliable 
sources  are  a  book  of  Confessions  written  by  him, 
and  some  prayers,  or  hymns.  He  was  of  British 
parentage,  his  father  or  grandfather  being  a  cler- 
gyman. When  a  lad,  with  others,  he  was  stolen 
and  carried  away  to  Ireland.  He  became  a  shep- 
herd, and  while  looking  after  his  sheep,  he  was 
drawn  to  meditation,  and  "he  remembered  his  own 
sins  and  was  converted."  A  strong  desire  filled  his 
soul  to  serve  Christ.  Escaping  from  his  captivity, 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  61 

he  found  his  way  back  to  his  home  and  native  land. 
But  having  a  call,  as  he  believed,  from  God,  he 
went  back  to  Ireland,  and  being  ordained,  became 
its  missionary.  He  does  not  tell  us  who  ordained 
him.  His  success  is  probably  exaggerated.  Along 
with  St.  Patrick,  the  name  of  St.  Columbanus  is 
prominent.  There  is  no  more  typical  Irish  mis- 
sionary. Bright  calls  him  a  "pious,  fearless,  self- 
devoted  man,  with  not  a  little  of  Celtic  passion  in 
his  nature."  Having  addressed  Pope  Boniface  as 
"head  of  all  the  Churches  of  Europe,  and  Pastor 
of  pastors,"  he  nevertheless  lectured  him  as  having 
appeared  to  compromise  the  faith. 

One  mark  of  the  old  Irish  Church  was  its  love 
of  teaching  and  study.  Bede  remarks  upon  the 
open-hearted,  generous  hospitality  extended  to 
Anglican  students  attracted  to  Ireland  by  the  fame 
of  its  monastic  schools.  What  the  old  Irish  Church 
lacked  conspicuously  was  organization.  The  Epis- 
copal character  was  bestowed  very  freely  on  priests, 
and  the  monasteries  were  ruled  over  by  Abbot- 
Bishops.  A  tribal  influence  affected  the  Church, 
and  Bishops  were  often  members  of  some  particu- 
lar family  within  the  tribe.  It  was  at  the  Synod 
of  Kells  that  Ireland  gained  its  first  hierarchical 


62  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

organization,  with  four  provinces  having  four 
Archbishops,  a  primacy  being  reserved  to  Armagh. 
It  may  be  noted  that  the  line  of  Bishops  from 
St.  Patrick  extended  down  to  the  Reformation, 
when  some  of  the  Irish  Bishops,  whose  consecra- 
tion has  never  been  questioned,  conformed  to  the 
Anglican  Church  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and  imparted  to  Archbishop  Laud  the  Episcopal 
order.  The  gradual  rechristianizing  of  the  major 
part  of  Britain,  which  came  to  be  called  the  Hep- 
tarchy, we  will  treat  of  in  a  following  chapter. 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

We  come  now  to  a  question  which  has  involved 
some  dissension.  The  ordinary  lay  reader  will  be 
perhaps  perplexed  by  the  different  estimates  put 
by  writers  upon  the  character  and  standing  of  the 
British  Celtic  Churches.  This,  we  are  sorry  to 
say,  has  come  about  through  the  controversial 
spirit  which  has  influenced  the  different  writers. 
There  is  a  strong  inclination  amongst  some  to  mag- 
nify the  work  of  the  monk  Augustine,  sent  by 
Pope  Gregory  in  the  sixth  century,  and  thus  to 
give  to  our  Anglican  Church  a  Roman  origin. 
There  are  others  who  look  to  the  ancient  British 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  G3 

and  Celtic  Churches  as  ancestral  parts  of  our  own 
Communion,  and  who  are  led  therefore,  perhaps, 
to  emphasize  their  Catholic  character  and  position. 
Justice  and  truth,  however,  bid  us  hold  the  scales 
evenly  balanced,  and  not  let  our  judgment  be  car- 
ried away  by  partisan  prepossessions.  The  indict- 
ment against  the  British  Church,  made  with  con- 
siderable heat,  is  that  "the  Church  was  weak,  con- 
fined to  the  Koman  provinces ;  and  had  no  strength 
or  character  of  its  own,  but  was  a  reflection  of  its 
Gallic  sister."  "It  produced,"  it  is  said,  "no  writ- 
ers or  scholars.  It  was  lacking  in  a  missionary 
spirit.  It  looked  to  Gaul  for  the  saints  it  would 
follow  and  reverence.  It  was  poor,  too  poor  to 
endow  even  its  own  Bishops.  It  founded  no  school 
of  theology.  It  was  monastic,  and  therefore  ascetic 
rather  than  evangelical."  Gildas  the  historian, 
about  564,  found  fault  with  the  Church,  but  "made 
his  attack,"  says  Dr.  Bright,  "in  so  unbalanced 
and  vehement  a  manner  that  it  provokes  incredu- 
lity by  its  very  violence."  "His  description," 
writes  Professor  Zimmer,  "is  no  matter-of-fact  ac- 
count of  the  British  Church,  but  rather  the  peni- 
tential sermon  of  a  man  who  delights  to  paint 
everything  in  the  blackest  colors." 


04  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

In  considering  the  charge  of  want  of  aggres- 
siveness preferred  against  the  early  British 
Church,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Church 
labored  under  great  difficulties.  She  had  an  in- 
ternal racial  dissension  to  contend  with  between 
the  Goidels  and  the  Bythens,  two  different  races 
inhabiting  Britain.  The  Church  also  suffered  ter- 
ribly from  the  invasions  of  her  heathen  conquerors. 
Its  members  were  driven  largely  into  the  moun- 
tainous country  of  Cornwall,  Wales,  and  Cumber- 
land, and  were  necessarily  scattered.  The  Church 
was  indeed  very  poor.  ~No  wonder  she  did  not  do 
an  aggressive  work  amongst  the  Saxons.  The 
Saxon  conquerors  were  not  disposed  to  accept  for 
teachers  a  hated  race. 

To  the  charge  that  the  Church  had  no  great 
scholars  we  would  reply  that  the  lack  of  scholars 
is  no  sign  of  decadence.  St.  Paul  bids  St.  Timo- 
thy entrust  the  work  and  government  of  the 
Church  to  faithful  men.  Scholarship  is  apt  to 
bring  with  it  a  danger.  It  gives  rise  to  controver- 
sies and  heresies.  It  is  far  better  for  a  Church  to 
be  orthodox  and  faithful  than  to  be  noted  for  its 
scholarship;  and  the  British  and  Celtic  Churches 
had  the  reputation  of  orthodoxy.  St.  Chrysostom 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  65 

bears  witness  to  her  unity  in  the  Faith.  He  says 
of  Britain,  "There,  too,  as  in  the  extreme  East, 
beside  the  Euxine  Sea,  in  the  South,  even,  men 
may  be  heard  discoursing  words  of  Scripture,  in 
differing  tongues,  but  not  with  differing  beliefs." 
"Britain,"  says  St.  Jerome,  "worships  the  same 
Christ,  observes  the  same  rule  of  Faith,  as  other 
Christian  countries."  Wilfred,  who  was  Ronian 
in  his  sympathies,  asserted  that  the  true  Catholic 
Faith  was  held  by  the  Irish,  the  Scottish,  and  the 
British,  as  well  as  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church. 
In  regard  to  its  relation  to  Europe,  Dr.  Bright 
says,  "We  find  it  adhering  to  orthodox  doctrine 
during  the  great  Arian  struggle."  Hilary  of 
Poitiers,  in  358,  congratulated  his  British  brethren 
on  their  "freedom  from  all  contagion  of  this  de- 
testable heresy."  In  363  Athanasius  could  reckon 
the  Britons  amongst  those  loyal  to  the  Catholic 
Faith."  We  have  also  seen  how,  with  the  help  of 
brethren  from  Gaul,  the  Celtic  Church  stemmed 
the  Pelagian  heresy.  Both  the  British  and  Celtic 
Churches  were  equally  free  from  the  negations  of 
modern  Protestantism  and  the  modern  additions 
of  Rome.  In  other  words  she  was  orthodox. 


Bright's  English  Ch.,  12. 


66  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

The  existence  of  the  many  monasteries  proves 
also  that  the  Church  had  a  sincere  devotional  side. 
Though  the  monastic  system  has  been  found  fault 
with  for  being  ascetic,  yet  its  counsels  of  poverty, 
chastity,  and  obedience  were  given  by  our  Blessed 
Lord  Himself,  who  in  His  own  Person  was  the 
best  Exemplar  of  them.  The  monk  took  up  his  life 
as  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  a  life  of 
labor  and  of  prayer.  The  good  monk,  perhaps  bet- 
ter than  any  other  man,  followed  the  example  of 
the  Lord.  He  became  spiritually  a  man  of  God, 
singularly  united  to  Christ  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  world  looks  on,  and  may  ap- 
prove of  the  good  work  he  does,  but  its  enfeebled 
sight  does  not  discern  the  supernatural  spirituality 
and  power  of  the  consecrated  life.  The  existence 
and  development  of  the  many  monasteries  in  Brit- 
ain at  this  time  bear  witness  to  the  life  of  devotion 
in  the  early  British  Church,  which  at  least  equals 
the  devotion  of  the  unpersecuted,  comfortable 
Christianity  of  the  present  day. 

The  prevalence  of  the  monasteries  all  over  the 
country  greatly  aided  the  extension  of  Christianity. 
They  abounded  in  good  works.  "Secure  in  the 
peace  conferred  upon  them  by  religious  sanction, 


IONA    AT    THE    PRESENT    DAY. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  67 

the  monks  became  the  builders  of  schools,  the  clear- 
ers  of  forests,  the  tillers  of  heath."  "The  reclaim- 
ing of  the  waste  land  about  the  marshes,"  says 
Grant  Allen,  in  his  work  on  ancient  Britain,  "was 
almost  entirely  due  to  monastic  bodies.  The  monks 
were  agriculturists,  masons,  jewellers,  glass-blow- 
ers, and  scribes.  The  monasteries  became  real 
manufacturing,  agricultural,  and  literary  centres. 
The  monks  copied  illuminated  manuscripts,  and 
painted  pictures,  not  without  rude  merit."  In  the 
Irish  monasteries  we  find  them  presided  over  by 
Abbots  in  Episcopal  orders.  "The  spread  of 
Christianity,"  says  Professor  Collins,  "lay  in  the 
formation  of  monastic  societies;  and  this  is  the 
strongest  possible  evidence  of  the  essential  charac- 
ter of  an  apostolically  descended  ministry  carefully 
guarded."  The  spirit  of  unworldliness  and  devo- 
tion to  Christ  and  the  purity  and  fervour  of  these 
early  monks  must  have  left  their  stamp  on  the 
whole  Church  of  this  period.  The  British  and 
Celtic  Churches,  we  conclude,  were  orthodox  in 
Faith,  Apostolic  in  government,  and  evangelical 
in  spirit. 

While  the  British  Church  established  itself  in 
the  West,  gradually  the  rest  of  England  was  re- 


68  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

converted,  and  there  arose  what  we  might  call  the 
Anglo-Saxon  or  Celtic  Church.  The  story  of  its 
conversion  we  shall  state  subsequently. 

RELATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  HOME. 

What,  we  may  ask,  was  the  relation  of  the 
British  and  Celtic  Churches  to  Rome  at  this  time  ? 
They  were  independent  of  Rome.  Britons  un- 
doubtedly looked  to  Rome  as  the  great  capital  of 
the  Empire,  and  to  the  Bishop  there  as  the  first 
in  Christendom.  St.  Columbanus  speaks  of  him 
as  the  "Head  of  the  Western  Church,"  or  of  the 
whole  Church.  He  also  gives  him  other  titles, 
couched  in  warm  and  complimentary  language.15 
But  there  is  throughout  the  letters  an  implied  as- 
sertion of  exemption  from  Roman  jurisdiction. 
Evidently  he  did  not  regard  the  pope  as  having 
monarchical  powers  or  coercive  jurisdiction,  or  as 
endowed  with  a  gift  of  infallibility;  for  the  saint 
does  not  hesitate  to  warn  the  Bishop  of  Rome  of 
the  "dreadful  scandal  and  calamity  it  would  be  to 
the  Church  if  he  were  to  fall  into  error."  He 
implies  thus  the  possibility  of  his  doing  so.  He 
would  surely  have  repudiated  the  reported  utter- 

iB  Warren's  Celtic  Lit.,  p.  38. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH.  69 

ance  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  April  1,  1886,  "I  am  the 
Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life."  "They  who  are 
with  me  are  with  the  Church,  and  they  who  are 
not  with  me  are  out  of  the  Church." 

The  Celtic  Church,  as  had  been  the  British, 
was  free  from  Roman  dominion.  The  case  of 
Wilfrid  is  one  proof  of  this.  Theodore  (664)  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had  divided  the  large 
See  of  York.  Wilfrid,  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
appealed  to  Rome.  Rome  decided  in  favor  of 
Wilfrid  that  he  should  be  reinstated  in  the  undi- 
vided See.  But  Archbishop  Theodore  ignored  the 
Papal  authority  and  refused  to  have  Wilfrid  re- 
instated. The  great  body  of  the  clergy  and  laity 
did  not  stand  with  Wilfrid.  "To  all,"  says  Dr. 
Bright,  "the  See  of  Peter  was  a  title  of  august  and 
sacred  import.  But  they  had  not  as  a  body,  in 
678,  any  notion  that  gratitude  or  reverence  could 
bind  them  to  recognize  a  systematic  interference 
on  the  part  of  Rome  in  their  domestic  Church  mat- 
ters, by  virtue  of  which  any  national  Church  de- 
cision might  at  any  time  be  nullified  by  a  court  of 
appeal  sitting  beyond  the  Alps."  The  aversion  to 
"outlandish"  authority  rendered  them  scornfully 


70  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

incredulous  as  to  the  practical  exercise  of  any  such 
power. 

It  is  not  by  the  sayings  of  any,  even  of  saints, 
that  the  relation  between  the  Church  and  Rome 
is  to  be  known.  It  can  only  be  determined  by  the 
solid  evidence  of  ascertained  facts.  The  Church 
stood  towards  Rome  on  the  same  equality  as  did 
the  Continental  Churches.  It  is  said  that  St. 
Patrick  had  a  canon  passed  in  the  Irish  Church 
providing  in  certain  cases  for  an  appeal  to  Rome. 
But  this  St.  Patrick  legend  is  an  untrustworthy 
one,  and  Stubbs  and  Haddon  question  the  genuine- 
ness of  this  canon.  Moreover,  Britain  was  not 
controlled  by  the  papacy,  for  the  powers  now  exer- 
cised by  the  papacy  were  then  unknown  anywhere.16 
The  legal  opinion  of  Blackstone  is  clear  and  de- 
cided. "The  ancient  British  Church,  by  whomso- 
ever planted,  was  a  stranger  to  Rome  and  all  its 
pretended  authority.'7 

This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  Bishops  of 
the  British  Church  were  not  chosen  by  the  Pope, 
but  she  selected  and  consecrated  them;  nor  were 
they  required  to  take  their  jurisdiction  from  Rome. 


18  Collins'  Eng.   Christianity,  p.   21. 
»  Blackstone,  Com.  IV.,  ch.  viii. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  71 

The  Pope  could  neither  appoint  nor  remove 
a  Bishop  at  his  own  discretion,  as  he  now  claims 
the  right  to  do.  The  Archbishop  of  the  Britons 
was  of  their  own  choice.  He  was  not  obliged  to 
receive  from  Home  the  pall,  which  was  in  early 
times  a  gift  of  honor  when  conferred.  Down  to 
the  time  of  Gregory  it  was  considered  nothing  more 
than  an  honorary  and  complimentary  badge.18  All 
executive,  legislative,  and  administrative  powers 
were  not,  as  today,  centred  in  the  papacy. 

The  idea  of  subjection  to  any  other  Bishop  or 
Church  than  the  one  of  Britain  would  have  been 
quite  absurd  to  the  British  Christians.  The 
name  of  Holy  Jerusalem  or  of  great  Rome  might 
be  spoken  of  with  high  honor,  but  that  was  all. 
Anything  more  would  have  been  foreign  to  their 
whole  mode  of  thought.  That  this  was  so,  comes 
out  very  emphatically  when  Augustine  demanded 
the  submission  of  the  British  Bishops  to  himself. 
They  positively  rejected  his  claims,  declaring  alle- 
giance to  an  Archbishop  of  their  own,  the  Bishop 
of  Caerleon-upon-Usk.  "Be  it  known  unto  you," 
they  said,  "we  are  subject  to  the  Church  of  God, 
and  to  the  Pope  of  Rome,  and  to  every  godly 


18  Cutts'  Augustine  of  Canterbury,  Ch.  xiii. 


72  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Christian  to  love  every  one.  But  other  obedience 
than  this  we  do  not  know  due  to  him  whom  you 
name  to  be  Pope."  This,  we  think,  is  sufficient  to 
settle  the  question  of  their  relation  to  the  papacy. 
Warren  sums  the  situation  as  follows:  " There 
was  a  vast  Celtic  communion  existing  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  sending  its  missions  among 
Teutonic  tribes  on  the  Continent,  and  to  distant 
islands  like  Iceland;  Catholic  in  doctrine  and 
practice,  with  a  long  roll  of  saints,  every  one  of 
note  named  among  them,  like  St.  Columbaiius, 
taking  a  line  wholly  independent  of  Rome,  or  like 
Bishop  Colman  at  the  Synod  of  Whitby  directly 
in  collision  with  her,  a  communion  having  its  own 
Liturgy,  its  own  translation  of  the  Bible,  its  own 
mode  of  chanting,  its  own  monastic  rule,  its  own 
cycle  for  the  calculation  of  Easter,  and  presenting 
both  internal  and  external  evidence  of  complete 
autonomy" 

THE  CELTIC  LITURGY. 

It  will  now  be  interesting  to  learn  what  were 
the  Liturgy  and  customs  of  the  Celtic  Church  at 
this  time;  how  in  some  respects  she  differed  from 
the  other  branches  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  yet 


19  Warren's  Cel.  Ch.  Lit.,  p.  45. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  73 

in  the  essential  points  was  the  same;  and  how  we, 
her  sons  and  daughters,  in  these  modern  times,  can 
be  sure  our  Liturgy  resembles  that  of  the  Celtic 
period  in  its  first  purity  and  freshness.  We  gather 
the  following  from  Warren,  the  learned  writer  on 
Celtic  Liturgy:  "In  many  respects,  the  Celtic 
Church  conformed  to  the  liturgy  of  the  neighbor- 
ing country  of  Gaul,  which  had  received  its  forms 
of  worship  from  the  East.  There  were  churches, 
we  learn,  with  bells,  and  altars  of  wood  or  stone. 
Their  liturgy  or  altar  service  was  known  by  the 
name  of  f< communion  euchciristua"  "hostia,  obla- 
tio,  sacrificium,  beaticum."  The  Lord's  Prayer 
was  an  essential  part  of  the  service,  and  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  in  our  Anglican  Church  no  service  can 
be  said  without  it.  There  were  proper  prefaces  as 
with  us,  and  to  pray  for  the  dead  was  a  recognized 
custom.  According  to  the  Apostolic  custom,  the 
kiss  of  peace  was  given  after  the  prayer  of  conse- 
cration. The  services  both  at  the  altar  and  in  the 
choir  were  choral.  In  Ireland,  music  was  an  art 
early  cultivated.  In  the  ancient  Irish  Church,  a 
hymn  was  sung  after  the  prayer  of  consecration. 
Unleavened  bread  was  used.  Dr.  Dollinger  men- 
tions the  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  Eucharist 


74  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

among  the  peculiarities  of  the  ancient  British 
Church.  The  universal  custom  of  the  primitive 
Church  to  mix  a  little  water  with  the  wine  in  the 
Eucharistic  cup  obtained  in  the  Celtic  Church  also. 
"Frequent  mention  is  made  of  the  use  of  the  sign 
of  the  Cross  for  various  purposes."  That  was  the 
sign  ordinarily  attending  the  sacerdotal  act  of 
benediction.  Special  vestments  were  in  use  at  the 
altar.  Among  them  we  find  noted  the  chasuble, 
the  alb,  and  the  maniple.  Among  the  Bishop's 
ornaments  were  a  ring,  a  pectoral  cross,  and  a 
pastoral  staff.  The  position  of  the  celebrant  was 
before  the  altar,  and  with  his  back  to  the  congre- 
gation. The  communion  hymn  of  the  early  Irish 
Church  is  full  of  allusions  to  the  reception  of  the 
chalice.  The  act  of  communion  was  called,  in 
the  rule  of  the  Irish  Culdees,  "going  to  the  chal- 
ice." There  were  differences  between  the  British 
Church  and  the  Roman,  as  we  have  said,  in  respect 
to  the  celebration  of  the  time  for  Easter.  There 
was  some  difference  also  in  respect  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  baptism,  the  wearing  of  the  tonsure,  the 
use  of  different  selections  of  Scripture  in  the  Or- 
dinal, and  the  anointing  of  the  hands  of  deacons 
and  priests  in  ordination. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  75 

Thus  in  doctrine  and  worship,  we  see  that  the 
Celtic  Church  in  Britain  conformed  in  all  essen- 
tials to  Holy  Scripture  and  the  teaching  of  Apos- 
tolic times,  while  in  several  respects  it  varied  from 
the  Roman  practice.  The  Celtic  Church  was  poor 
and  not  aggressive.  It  had  been  driven  into  a  state 
of  isolation.  It  had  suffered  from  cruel  wars.  It 
had,  however,  kept  the  Faith,  the  Apostolic  gov- 
ernment, the  Priesthood,  and  it  offered  a  true  wor- 
ship and  was  kept  alive  in  God's  great  Providence. 
We  may  well  look  to  her  as  our  spiritual  Mother, 
with  a  grateful  heart,  and  be  thankful  that  we  have 
inherited  so  much  from  her  whose  daughters  we 
are. 

BOOKS  REFERRED  TO  IN  CHAPTER  III. 

Early  English  Church.    Bright. 

History  of  the  English  Church.    Hunt. 

Roman  Britain.    E.  Conybeare. 

Celtic  Britain.    J.  Rhys. 

The  Celtic  Church.     Zimmer. 

Sketches  of  Church  History.    Robertson. 

Anglo-Saxon  Britain.     Grant  Allen. 

How  the  Church  came  to  England.    Gertrude  Hollis. 

Theodore  and  Wilfrid.    Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Browne. 

History  of  the  Church,  A.  D.  813-451.    Bright. 

The  Early  English  Church.     Churton. 

Ecclesiastical  History.    Bede. 

Our  Island  Church.    Douglas  Macleane. 

Story  of  Ireland  and  Her  Church.    Macbeth. 


76  THE  LINEAGE. 

Turning  Points  of  English  Church  History.     Cutts. 
Beginnings  of  English  Christianity.    Collins. 
Conversion  of  the  Heptarchy.    Bishop  Browne. 
Life  of  St.  Golumba.    Ed.  A.  Cooke. 


MAP  or 

ENGLAND  &  WALES 


thedmcian*  at  &a 

DIOCESES 

•tor  Uw 

in  IM  tin*  of 
HENRY  Vm 


CHAPTER  IV. 
FORMATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 

GRADUALLY  the  territory  of  the  heathen  invad- 
ers who  were  continually  fighting  with  one  another 
became  consolidated  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century 
into  seven  kingdoms  called  the  Heptarchy.  These 
were  Northumbria,  Mercia,  East  Saxons,  West 
Saxons  or  Wessex,  East  Anglia,  South  Saxons, 
Kent.  The  work  of  planting  Christianity  in  these 
seven  kingdoms  had  to  begin  practically  anew.  It 
is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  old  British 
Church  that  had  fled  westward  had  little  to  do  with 
this  missionary  work.  It  had  to  be  done  by  others. 
There  were  three  sources  from  which  devoted  mis- 
sionaries came :  from  the  north,  and  from  the  west, 
and  from  the  continent.  Among  these  we  have  St. 
Patrick,  Columbanus,  Aidan,  Augustine,  and  Pau- 
linus. 

We  will  begin  the  story  with  the  large  north- 
eastern kingdom  of  Northumbria.  Paulinus, 
Queen  Ethelburga's  chaplain,  obtained  permission 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  79 

from  King  Edwin,  who  was  a  heathen,  to  hold  a 
general  conference,  in  which  Paulinus  should  be 
allowed  to  present  the  claims  of  the  Gospel.  There 
is  an  interesting  account  of  what  occurred.  An 
old  chief  arose  and  summed  up  the  issue  between 
the  rival  faiths  in  a  striking  manner.  "I  will  tell 
you,  O  King,  what  methinks  man's  life  is  like. 
Sometimes  when  your  hall  is  lit  up  for  supper  on 
a  wild  winter's  evening,  and  warmed  by  a  fire  in 
the  midst,  a  sparrow  flies  in  by  one  door,  takes 
shelter  for  a  little  time  in  the  warmth,  and  then 
flies  out  again  by  another  door,  and  is  lost  in  the 
stormy  darkness.  No  one  in  the  hall  sees  the  bird 
before  it  enters  or  after  it  is  gone  forth,  and  it 
is  only  seen  for  a  little  time  as  it  hovers  near  the 
blazing  hearth.  Even  so  is  it,  I  ween,  as  to  this 
brief  span  of  our  life  in  this  world.  What  has 
gone  before,  what  will  come  after  it,  of  this  we 
know  nothing.  If  the  strange  teacher  can  tell  us, 
by  all  means  let  him  be  heard."  This  decided  the 
question  with  the  assembly.  The  pagan  high 
priest  himself  led  the  way,  and  with  his  own  hand 
desecrated  the  heathen  temple.  It  was  the  birth- 
day of  the  Northumbrian  Church. 

1  Early  Eng.    Ch.,    Bright,    p.    116.      Title-deeds   Eng.    Ch., 
Gamier,  p.  44. 


80  THE  LINEAGE  OP 

Then  King  Penda,  a  fierce  heathen  and  savage 
warrior,  overthrew  the  Northumbrians,  and  Chris- 
tianity was  all  but  swept  away.  It  was  subse- 
quently reconquered  by  the  Britons,  and  was  ruled 
over  by  a  Christian  British  king,  representing  the 
Christianity  of  the  old  British  Church.  Oswald, 
the  king,  had  in  635,  in  his  desire  to  Christianize 
his  people,  sent  to  a  monastery  in  lona  for  a 
Bishop.  The  Bishop,  however,  soon  returned  from 
Northumbria,  and  reported  that  "He  could  make 
nothing  of  the  British.  They  were  hard,  untract- 
able,  barbarous."  The  monk  Aidan  observed  that 
athe  Bishop  appeared  to  have  expected  too  much 
at  first.  It  would  have  been  better,"  he  observed, 
ato  have  obeyed  the  Apostolic  precept,  Treat  them 
as  infants  in  the  Faith,  and  feed  them  with  the 
milk  of  easier  doctrine.' '  aHe  might,"  says 
Bishop  Browne  of  Bristol,  "have  been  telling  us 
in  our  day  how  to  deal  with  some  of  our  people." 

Aidan  was  seen  by  the  Council  to  be  the  man 
for  the  task,  and  was  consecrated.  He  did  a  very 
great  and  noble  work.  From  him  we  may  observe 
the  present  Bishops  of  Durham  have  succeeded, 


2Bede,  Ecc.  His.,  Book  III.,  Ch.  v. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  81 

and  now  the  eighty-fourth  Bishop  from  Aidan  sits 
in  that  See.  Aidan's  manner  of  life  has  thus  been 
described  by  Bede :  "He  lived  as  he  taught  others 
to  live.  He  neither  sought  nor  loved  this  world's 
goods.  He  delighted  in  giving  to  the  poor  what- 
ever the  king  and  the  great  men  gave  to  him.  He 
moved  about  the  country  on  foot,  unless  some  real 
necessity  compelled  him.  Whenever  he  saw  way- 
farers, he  went  to  them  at  once.  If  they  were  un- 
believers, he  begged  them  to  receive  the  Faith,  and 
if  they  were  believers,  he  strengthened  them  in  the 
Faith,  and  urged  them  by  word  and  deed  to  alms 
and  good  works."  It  is  related  of  him  that  when 
consulted  by  a  certain  priest,  Utta,  who  asked  his 
prayers  for  a  journey,  Aidan  told  him  that  he 
would  meet  with  a  tremendous  storm  on  his  return 
voyage,  and  he  gave  Utta  a  vessel  of  blessed  oil, 
bidding  him  cast  it  on  the  waters  when  the  storm 
came.  It  fell  out  as  Aidan  had  said,  and  it  stilled 
the  raging  of  the  storm.  Aidan  seems  thus  provi- 
dentially to  have  been  guided  to  a  modern  dis- 
covery.4 


8  Bede,  Eccl.  His.,  Book  III.,  Ch.  v. 
4  Conver.  Hep.,  Bp.  Browne,  p.  107. 


82  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Professor  Bright  says  of  Aidan  that  "He  set  a 
pattern  of  ministerial  activity,  of  absolute  conspic- 
uous unworldliness,  of  tenderness  to  the  poor  and 
weak,  of  boldness  in  behalf  of  right  before  the 
strong,  of  thorough-going,  intense  resolution  to  car- 
ry out  in  life  the  moral  teaching  of  Scripture, 
which  Bede,  Latin  as  he  was  in  tone,  has  described 
with  a  loving  reverence." 

The  English  Church  has  always  held  Aidan 
in  high  regard,  and  looked  upon  him  as  one  of  the 
great  missionaries  through  whom  England  received 
Christianity. 

He  observed  the  Scotic,  or  old  British,  rule  for 
calculating  his  Easter,  which  rule  was  afterwards 
abandoned  at  the  famous  Synod  of  Whitby  in  664, 
and  the  Continental  custom  adopted. 

At  Whitby  we  come  across  the  Abbess  Hilda 
and  the  beautiful  story  of  the  poet  Caedmon. 
Hilda  was  a  remarkable  woman,  noted  both  for  her 
intellectual  ability,  administrative  power,  and  sanc- 
tity. She  was  at  the  head  of  what  were  practically 
two  monasteries,  one  of  men  and  one  of  women. 
Upon  them  she  impressed  her  own  mind.  They 
bowed  to  her  as  their  head.  She  succeeded  in  es- 


6  Bright's  His.  Early  Eng.  CU.,  Ch.  v. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  83 

tablishing  a  tradition  of  unanimity  and  unselfish- 
ness. She  made  her  monks  give  so  much  time  to  the 
study  of  Scripture,  and  so  much  heed  to  the  prac- 
tice of  good  works,  that  Bishops  came  to  think  of 
her  house  as  the  best  place  for  supplying  competent 
ordinands.  Five  of  the  brethren,  whom  Bede  enu- 
merates as  persons  of  signal  worth  and  holiness,  at- 
tained the  Episcopal  dignity. 

There  was  one  member  of  the  monastery  whom 
his  brethren  venerated  for  his  specially  inspired 
gift.  Caedmon,  for  such  was  his  name,  was  a  poor 
and  ignorant  herdsman.  He  felt  greatly  humili- 
ated that  he  was  lacking  in  the  power  of  song. 
One  night  he  had  a  dream.  A  visitant  stood  by 
him,  who  said  to  him,  "Caedmon,  sing  me  some- 
thing." "I  cannot  sing."  "However,  you  have  got 
to  sing  to  me."  "What  must  I  sing  ?"  "Sing  the 
Creation."  Solemn  and  adoring  words  came  to 
his  mind  in  rythmic  measure.  And  when  the 
morning  came  he  was  able  to  repeat  them.  The 
story  came  to  the  Abbess  Hilda,  who  sent  for  him 
and  tested  his  gift  in  various  ways,  by  giving  him 
other  portions  of  Scripture  in  like  manner  to  para- 
phrase. She  took  this  poor  ignorant  herdsboy  into 
the  monastery  and  had  him  instructed  in  the  Holy 


84  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Scriptures.  Caedmon  set  everything  by  his  gift 
to  the  music  of  song.  Very  sweetly,  after  years 
of  loving  service,  he  passed  away.  Knowing  that 
his  hour  was  drawing  near,  he  asked  for  the 
Housel,  or  Sacrament.  To  the  brethren  present 
he  said,  "Are  you  kindly  disposed  towards  me?" 
"Surely,  and  we  pray  you  to  be  so  towards  us." 
"Dear  children,"  such  is  the  sweet  answer,  "I  am 
friendly  disposed  towards  all  God's  servants."  He 
then  fortified  himself  with  the  heavenly  viaticum, 
and  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.6 

Next  let  us  consider  the  Kingdom  of  West 
Saxony,  or  Wessex,  in  the  south,  which  was 
founded  by  Cerdic  about  the  year  519.  It  became 
eventually  the  most  important  of  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  Heptarchy.  It  gradually  absorbed  to  itself 
all  the  others,  and  its  kings  became  kings  of  Eng- 
land. In  the  times  of  which  we  speak  Wessex  had 
not  become  supreme.  Ere  it  became  supreme,  it 
was  exposed  through  various  wars  to  fluctuations 
of  territory.  The  knowledge  of  Christ  came  in  the 
time  of  King  Cynegils.  Christianity  in  Wessex 
had,  however,  greatly  suffered,  and  it  had  largely 
become  pagan.  About  the  year  633,  a  man  named 


6  Early  Eng.  Ch.,  Bright,  p.  275. 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  85 

Birinus  was  greatly  drawn  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
the  heathen  in  the  unvisited  parts  of  Britain.  He 
applied  to  Pope  Honorius,  and  was  sent  by  him  to 
be  consecrated  by  Astorius,  Bishop  of  Milan.  He 
received  from  him  what  we  should  call  a  roving 
commission.  He  landed,  probably,  at  Porchester 
in  Wessex.  He  had  come  in  search  of  a  heathen 
people  as  yet  unvisited  by  Christian  missionaries. 
He  found  that  the  people  of  Wessex  were  mostly 
pagan.  It  was  therefore  unnecessary  for  him  to 
proceed  further  in  pursuance  of  his  design.  "He 
thought  it  more  useful  to  remain  there  and  preach 
the  word  than  to  go  elsewhere."  "It  is  important 
to  notice  that  there  is  no  hint  that  he  thought  it 
advisable  to  refer  this  complete  change  of  plans  to 
Rome."  Though  Honorius  had  befriended  him, 
he  had  not  come  under  any  commission  from 
Rome.  So  he  began  where  he  was :  first,  he  taught 
King  Cynegils  the  Christian  creed,  and  baptized 
him.  Now  it  was  the  office  of  the  chief  sponsor  to 
receive  the  newly  baptized  Christian  by  giving  him 
his  hand  as  he  emerged  from  the  laver  of  regenera- 
tion. This  office  was  performed  by  the  most  holy 
and  most  victorious  King  Oswald  of  Northumbria. 
Here,  in  a  striking  form,  we  have  the  Northum- 


86  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

brian  influence  in  the  conversion  of  a  great  Saxon 
kingdom,  eventually  the  greatest  of  all.  Kent  (the 
home  of  the  Roman  mission),  had  already  become 
divided,  and  was  to  divide  still  more.  In  the  con- 
version of  Wessex  we  lay  our  hand  upon  the  Chris- 
tianizing of  the  finally  dominant  kingdom.  And 
while  it  was  done  by  a  Bishop  designated  from 
Italy,  it  was  done  in  disregard  of  the  original  mis- 
sion from  Rome.  "Not  only  were  there  no  relations 
between  Birinus  and  the  Canterbury  or  Roman 
Mission,  but  the  one  home  influence  there  was  in 
the  conversion  of  Wessex  was  that  of  the  most  de- 
voted adherent  of  the  Scotic  Church. 

The  people  of  Wessex,  influenced  by  the  King's 
example,  were  led  to  embrace  Christianity  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  and  received  Holy  Baptism. 
Oswald,  the  King  of  Northumbria,  cooperated  in 
the  establishment  and  development  of  the  Church. 
The  two  kings  built  a  church  dedicated  to  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul  at  Dorchester,  near  Oxford.  Here 
Birinus  settled  himself.  He  built  and  dedicated 
churches ;  Bede  tells  us  he  won  many  people  to  the 
Lord  by  his  pious  labors;  he  died  in  650.  King 
Cynegils  had  passed  away  seven  years  previously. 
He  was  succeded  by  his  son  Coinwalch.  He  was  a 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  87 

heathen,  but  after  some  trouble  which  involved  his 
leaving  his  kingdom  for  a  time,  he  became  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  He  looked  round  to  find, 
after  the  death  of  Birinus,  a  Bishop  for  himself 
and  his  people.  He  was  led  to  select  Agilbert. 
Thus  it  was  from  the  Scotic  Church  that  the  sec- 
ond line  of  Bishops  came.  Subsequently,  as  the 
king  knew  no  other  language,  he  brought  in 
another  Bishop  named  Wini,  who  spoke  the  same 
language  as  himself,  and  was  consecrated  in  Gaul. 
Agilbert  later  withdrew,  and  went  to  Gaul,  his 
native  country,  and  became  Bishop  of  Paris.  He 
suggested  his  nephew  Eleuthereus  as  his  successor. 
Coinwalch  applied  to  Theodore,  then  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  to  consecrate  him,  and  Theodore 
did  so.  We  do  not  give  the  full  details  of  these 
changes  and  nominations,  but  we  insert  two  con- 
clusions of  Bishop  Browne  upon  them.  It  is 
noticeable  that  these  Bishops  were  not  either 
elected  by  the  people  or  clergy,  or  nominated  from 
Rome,  but  were  the  direct  appointees  of  the  king. 
Nor  is  there  any  evidence  to  be  found  of  the  sway 
of  Rome  in  England.  "Coinwalch  and  Agilbert 
and  Wini  behaved  as  though  they  had  never  heard 
the  name  of  Rome.  They  might  perhaps  have  be- 


88  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

haved  better,  if  they  had  shown  a  sense  of  union 
and  communion  with  the  Patriarch  of  the  West; 
and  if  the  Patriarch  of  the  West  had  imagined 
that  it  was  at  all  his  business,  he  might  perhaps 
have  kept  them  in  better  order.  That  does  not 
touch  the  historical  fact  that  Rome's  hand  was  not 
felt  in  Wessex,  indeed  was  not  stretched  out." 

Wessex  became  Christianized,  and  from  it 
early  in  the  tenth  century  we  have  the  Sees  of 
Winchester,  Cherbourne,  Ramsbury,  Wells,  and 
Crediton.  Later  on  were  developed  from  it  the 
sees  of  Exeter,  Salisbury,  and  half  of  Gloucester 
and  Bristol. 

Coming  to  East  Anglia,  or  Saxony,  we  find 
that  King  Redwald,  during  an  absence  from  home, 
in  Kent,  embraced  Christianity.  His  conversion 
however,  was  not  very  thorough.  For  on  his  re- 
turn, meeting  with  the  disapproval  and  opposition 
of  his  wife,  he  compromised  his  faith  by  erecting 
in  his  temple  of  worship  two  altars,  one  Christian 
and  one  heathen.  His  son  Eorpwald,  who  suc- 
ceeded him,  was  a  pagan.  So  the  temple  remained 
with  its  double  worship  for  many  years. 

It  came  about  that  in  Redwald's  lifetime,  Ed- 
win, King  of  Deira,  had  been  driven  from  his 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  89 

kingdom  by  his  brother-in-law,  Ethelfrith  the 
Kavager.  He  sought  refuge  at  the  Court  of  Red- 
wald,  who  generously  gave  him  hospitality.  Three 
times  the  brother-in-law  made  offers  of  money,  and 
each  time  larger,  if  he  would  put  Edwin  to  death. 
Very  wisely,  he  accompanied  his  last  refusal  by 
mobilizing  an  army.  He  did  this  so  quickly  that 
Ethelfrith  was  taken  by  surprise.  In  the  battle 
that  ensued  he  was  slain,  and  also  a  son  of  Red- 
wald's.  This  loss  on  his  behalf  strengthened  the 
tie  between  Edwin  and  Redwald.  When  Edwin 
subsequently  regained  his  throne,  and  became  a 
Christian,  he  sought  to  repay  Redwald's  devotion 
and  loss  in  his  cause.  After  some  years,  Redwald 
being  dead,  out  of  gratitude  to  his  memory,  Edwin 
persuaded  Eorpwald  to  abandon  his  heathenism 
and  with  his  whole  people  to  receive  the  Gospel 
and  sacraments.  Bede  assigns  this  work  of  conver- 
sion wholly  to  Edwin. 

After  the  death  of  Eorpwald,  his  brother  Sige- 
bert  succeeded  to  the  kingdom.  Sigebert  had  been 
educated  in  France,  and  there  became  a  Christian, 
and  when  he  came  to  his  kingdom  he  set  himself 
to  establish  schools  such  as  he  had  seen  in  his  resi- 
dence abroad.  He  was  a  man  of  devout  life,  and 


90  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

after  reigning  some  years  he  retired  to  a  monas- 
tery. His  country  being  invaded,  he  was  obliged 
to  submit  to  his  people's  demands  to  fight  for  them. 
But  refusing  to  be  armed,  he  went  into  battle, 
Gordon-like,  with  a  wand  in  his  hand.  Thus  this 
most  Christian  and  learned  king  fell  in  battle. 
He  had  been  helped  in  his  Christianizing  work  by 
a  Bishop  who  came  from  Burgundy,  by  the  happy 
name  of  Felix.  Bede  refers  to  the  name,  as  if  it 
had  a  sacramental  meaning,  and  tells  us  that  Felix 
brought  pagans  out  of  their  long  subjection  to 
wickedness  and  unhappiness,  and  led  them  on  to 
the  Faith.7  In  the  transept  window  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  London,  we  find  Sigebert  placed  among 
the  Christian  kings  of  the  Heptarchy,  and  Felix 
among  its  twelve  primary  Bishops.  Anna,  who 
succeeded  Sigebert,  was  quite  as  remarkable  for 
Christian  graces  as  Sigebert  had  been.  The  early 
Christianity  of  his  reign  was  marked  by  two  fea- 
tures, the  presence  in  East  Anglia  of  the  Irish  her- 
mit Furzy  and  the  dedication  of  Anna's  daugh- 
ters to  the  Eeligious  life. 

It  is  a  grateful  incident  to  recall  that  Felix 
was  much  helped  in  his  missionary  work  by  a 


7  Bede's  Ecc.  His.,  Book  II.,  Ch.  15. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  91 

monk  whose  name  was  Furzy.  He  belonged  to  a 
Scotic  family,  and  came  with  a  number  of  fellow- 
laborers  from  Ireland.  He  so  won  the  people  of 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk  by  his  enthusiasm  and  Celtic 
eloquence  that  Christianity  took  a  firmer  hold 
among  the  people.  This  is  the  first  recorded  in- 
stance of  union  between  the  Celtic  and  the  Conti- 
nental teachers.  We  here  quote  from  Professor 
Lane,  as  recording  the  spirit  of  the  Churches: 
"The  monks  of  Canterbury  were  sorely  grieved 
when  they  heard  of  Felix  working  side  by  side 
with  the  representative  of  the  British  Church 
which  they  so  despised,  especially  so  as  Furzy  con- 
tinued to  wear  the  tonsure  which  they  hated,  and 
observe  other  customs  of  discipline  and  ritual  in  a 
different  way  to  themselves.  But,  as  they  had  no 
jurisdiction  in  East  Anglia,  they  had  to  put  up 
with  the  inconvenient  reflections  his  undoubted 
success  caused  them.  The  Venerable  Bede,  who 
cannot  be  accused  of  too  great  affection  for  Celtic 
customs,  has  warmly  praised  Furzy's  work,  and 
testified  to  the  numerous  monasteries  which  the 
Irish  monk  had  been  instrumental  in  founding."8 
This  testimony  of  Christian  fellowship  and  co- 


8  Lane's  Illus.  Eng.  Ch.  His.,  p.  65. 


92  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

operation  is  a  worthy  example  for  our  own  days. 
"Even  the  keeping  of  Easter  on  different  days  was 
found  to  be  not  incompatible  with  fraternal  sym- 
pathy, while  holy  Aidan  lived  at  Lindisfarne. 
Although  these  were  the  ostensible  subjects  of  con- 
troversy, the  real  sting  in  the  quarrel  was  the 
broader  question  whether  the  ancient  Church  of 
Britain  should  give  up  its  independence  as  an 
autonomous  Church  at  the  bidding  of  the  Bishop 
of  another  Church;  for  no  doubt  had  ever  been 
cast  in  earlier  times  upon  the  right  of  the  British 
Bishops  to  the  claim  of  an  independent  origin."9 
Another  noted  feature  in  East  Anglia  was  the 
number  of  high-born  women  who  gave  themselves 
to  the  religious  life.  King  Anna,  who  succeeded 
Sigebert,  had  a  number  of  daughters  who  entered 
convents.  It  seems  not  to  have  been  uncommon 
for  ladies  of  high  position  to  go  over  to  France  for 
their  education.  There  they  were  brought  in  con- 
tact with  nuns  and  religious  life.  Among  Anna's 
daughters  was  Sexberga.  She  married  the  King 
of  Kent;  on  being  left  a  widow,  she  founded  the 
convent  of  Minster,  in  the  Isle  of  Sheppey.  After- 
wards she  went  to  her  sister  Etheldreda's  Abbey  of 


"Lane's  Illus.  Ch.  His.,  p.  78. 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  93 

Ely,  where  in  679,  she  succeeded  her  sister  as 
Abbess.  Her  own  daughter  followed  her  as  Abbess 
of  Ely,  and  another  daughter  as  Abbess  of  Shep- 
pey.  The  other  daughters  of  King  Anna  were 
Witberga,  an  Ely  nun,  and  Ethelberga.  Ethel- 
berga  went  for  her  education  to  Brie,  near  Meaux, 
in  France.  So  great  were  her  virtues,  that  in  the 
course  of  time  she  was  made  Abbess.  The  same 
lot  had  previously  fallen  to  King  Anna's  step- 
daughter, Ssethryd.  It  was  thus  not  uncommon  in 
those  days  for  great  ladies  to  consecrate  their  lives 
in  the  Religious  life.  We  have  seen  in  the  Celtic 
Church  how  much  was  due  in  Ireland  and  Brit- 
ain to  the  monastic  system.  It  was  the  backbone, 
or  rather  life  blood,  of  the  Church.  Men  and 
noble  women  were  willing  to  give  themselves  and 
their  all  to  Christ,  who  gave  His  All  to  them.  Ah, 
would  it  were  that  in  our  day  and  our  communion 
there  might  be  many  who  would  follow  their  noble 
example ! 

In  the  great  central  kingdom  of  Mercia  the 
people  were  not  Saxons  or  Jutes,  but  Angles.  The 
most  trying  times  in  this  struggle  of  the  recovery 
of  Christianity  were  the  years  from  633  to  655. 
In  those  years,  Penda,  a  violent  pagan,  was  King 


94  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

of  Mercia.  He  did  all  he  could  to  crush  out  Chris- 
tianity. He  had,  however,  a  son,  Pseda,  described 
by  Bede  as  "an  excellent  young  man/'  to  whom 
his  father  gave  the  kingdom  of  the  Middle  Angles. 
He  married  Elfleda,  a  Christian  Princess.  It  is  to 
be  noted  that  there  was  a  remarkable  series  of 
Christian  princesses  in  a  line  of  eight  descents 
from  mother  to  daughter,  whose  pagan  husbands 
became  Christian  kings.10 

Pasda  was  brought  up  a  pagan.  The  condition 
proposed  to  him  by  Elfleda's  father  was  that  he 
might  have  her,  provided  he  became  a  Christian. 
It  is  said  that  when  he  learned  the  promises  of  the 
Gospel  and  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  he  declared 
he  would  become  a  Christian,  "wife  or  no  wife." 
His  companions  and  their  dependents  were  bap- 
tized, and  four  priests  were  sent  with  Pseda  to 
teach  his  people.  These  four  missionaries 
preached  to  the  middle  Anglians  with  great  suc- 
cess. "Every  day  people  came  to  them,  both  nobles 
and  those  of  lower  degree,  and  renounced  the  vile- 
ness  of  idolatry  and  were  washed  clean  in  the  font 
of  faith."  "Not  only  among  the  middle  Angles 
did  they  preach,  but  the  murderous  old  pagan 


10  Conversion  of  the  Heptarchy,  Bp.  Browne,  106-110. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  95 

Penda  allowed  them  to  do  so  to  his  Mercian  sub- 
jects, if  they  wished  to  hear  him.  He  had  so  far 
softened  in  his  attitude  towards  Christianity  that 
all  he  now  demanded  was  that  if  any  of  his  subjects 
became  Christians  they  must  become  Christians 
in  deed.  He  hated  those  who  professed  and  called 
themselves  Christians  and  did  not  obey  the  God  in 
whom  they  believed.  "I  have  always/7  says  Bishop 
Browne,  from  whom  we  quote  the  above,  "had  a 
kindly  feeling  for  this  downright  old  pagan."1 

In  East  Saxony,  where  London  now  is,  were  to 
be  found  the  most  perverse  and  determined  pagans 
in  the  Seven  Kingdoms.  In  604  they  received  the 
Faith  under  Miletus  their  Bishop,  whose  seat  was 
at  London.  His  church  was  the  forerunner  of  the 
present  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  estate  of 
Tillingham  in  Essex,  which  was  given  for  its  sup- 
port, is  held  by  the  Cathedral  chapter  to-day. 

From  650  to  653,  London  and  the  Kingdom  of 
Essex  remained  pagan.  It  was  not  till  a  Saxon 
Bishop  sat  on  the  throne  of  Canterbury  that  Lon- 
don was  brought  once  more  to  the  Christian  faith. 
Siegbert  the  King  was  a  friend  of  the  Christian 
King  Oswi. 


11  Conversion  of  the  Heptarchy,  110. 


90  THE  LINEAGE   OF 

It  is  wise  to  remember  on  passing  judgment 
on  the  question,  what  were  the  influences  by  which 
Britain  was  reconverted,  and  how  much  was  due 
to  missionaries  from  the  North  and  West  called  the 
Scotic  Bishops,  and  how  much  the  influence  came 
from  the  Koman  Mission  founded  in  597  by  the 
Mission  of  Augustine. 

Bishop  Browne  states  that  two  Scotic  kings, 
Oswald  and  Oswi,  with  their  Scotic  Bishops,  Igan 
and  Finnon,  were  the  converting  and  rechristianiz- 
ing  agents  in  JsTorthumbria  and  Mercia,  the  East 
Saxon  Kingdom,  and  Wessex.  "Not  even,"  says 
Bishop  Browne,12  ain  the  most  direct  way  can  any 
connection  be  traced  with  the  Italian  Mission,  or 
any  sort  of  reference  to  Canterbury  or  to  Rome." 
"The  Italian  influence  and  the  influence  of  Kent 
were  entirely  absent  from  the  whole  of  the  great 
domains  of  Northumbria  and  Mercia.  The  same 
was  true  of  the  whole  of  Wessex,  the  next  largest 
portion  of  England,  and  also  of  Essex.  In  the  year 
655,  sixty  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Italian 
mission,  Northumbria,  Mercia,  East  Saxony,  and 
Wessex  were  all  ruled  by  prelates  of  Irish  or 
Scotic  extraction.  The  teaching  of  Christianity 


12  Conversion  of  the  Heptarchy,  p.  113. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  97 

was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  men  of  the  pre- Augus- 
tine churches  of  these  islands,  the  Celtic  and  the 
Scotic  Church.7' 

We  must  now  go  back  a  little  in  time,  and 
describe  The  Italian  Mission,  by  the  Monk  Augus- 
tine. 

It  is  a  story  as  familiar  to  English  youth  as 
that  of  Washington  and  his  hatchet  is  to  Ameri- 
cans, but  it  is  not  so  universally  known  among 
Churchmen  in  the  United  States. 

About  the  year  595,  we  come  to  the  story  of 
the  famous  mission  of  Augustine.  Gregory — an 
Abbot  at  that  time  of  the  monastery  on  the  Coelian 
Hill  at  Eome — was  passing  through  the  Forum, 
when  he  observed  a  group  of  slaves  who  were  ex- 
posed there  for  sale.  In  contrast  with  the  brown 
skins,  black  hair,  and  dark  eyes  of  the  Italians,  the 
fair  complexions  and  blue  eyes  of  the  Britons 
stood  out  in  strong  relief.  They  were  large  of 
form,  and  strikingly  beautiful.  Taking  an  inter- 
est in  them,  Gregory  asked  from  what  country  they 
were  brought.  He  was  told  they  were  from  Brit- 
ain. He  asked  whether  their  people  were  pagan  or 
Christian.  "Alas!"  he  said,  on  being  told,  "that 
the  author  of  darkness  should  be  possessed  of  so 


98  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

fair  subjects,  and  while  so  beautiful  in  outward 
aspect,  their  minds  should  be  devoid  of  inward 
grace."  "What  was  the  name  of  that  race  to 
which  they  belonged?"  On  being  informed  that 
they  were  Angles,  with  some  humour,  he  replied, 
"That  is  good,  they  have  angel  faces ;  and  what  is 
the  name  of  the  province  from  which  they  come  ?" 
It  was  Deira.  "It  is  well,"  he  said,  "  'de-ira' — 
withdrawn  from  the  wrath  of  God,  and  called  to 
the  mercy  of  Christ."  And  what  was  the  name  of 
their  king  ?  He  was  told  his  name  was  Aella,  and 
alluding  to  the  resemblance  of  the  name  to  Alleluia, 
he  remarked,  "It  is  fitting  that  the  Name  of  God 
should  be  sung  in  those  regions." 

A  few  years  after  this  he  became  Bishop  of 
Rome.  The  incident  had  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion on  him.  He  did  not  forget  the  British,  and 
he  sent  his  prior  Augustine  on  a  mission  to  Brit- 
ain with  a  letter  to  Ethereus,  Bishop  of  Lyons. 
Forty  monks  accompanied  Augustine,  and  they 
reached  England  in  the  year  597,  and  landed  at 
Kent.  Ethelbert,  the  King  there,  had  married  a 
Christian  princess,  Bertha,  who  had  her  own 
Christian  Bishop  as  chaplain.  After  a  time  the 
King  was  converted,  and  together  with  his  chief 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  99 

men  and  people  of  Kent,  was  baptized.18  Then 
Augustine  found  himself  confronted  with  the  fact 
that  there  was  a  Church  with  Bishops  already 
existing  in  Britain.  He  sought,  through  the 
mediation  of  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  a  confer- 
ence with  them,  with  a  view  to  union  in  their  mis- 
sionary work.  We  may  here  notice  that  after  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Roman  colony  in  Britain,  the 
inhabitants  of  Wales  had  grouped  themselves  into 
independent  kingdoms,  in  each  of  which  a  separ- 
ate bishopric  had  been  established.  The  confer- 
ence took  place  at  what  came  to  be  called  "Augus- 
tine's Oak,"  at  the  junction  of  the  two  present 
dioceses  of  Worcester  and  Hereford.  We  get  a 
narrative  of  the  proceedings  from  the  historian 
Bede.14  Augustine  began  by  brotherly  admoni- 
tions to  preserve  Catholic  unity  and  unite  in  the 
blessed  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel.  He  stated 
the  differences  between  themselves  and  the  Roman 
Church.  It  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any 
essential  diversity  in  doctrine.  The  principal  di- 
vergencies were  in  the  time  of  keeping  Easter,  and 
some  peculiarity  in  the  mode  of  administering  bap- 


13  Cutts'  Augustine  of  Canterbury,  57. 

"Bede's   Ecc.   His.,   ii.    2;    Early   Eng.    Ch.   His.,   Ch.    ill., 
Bright. 


100  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tism,  and  the  form  of  the  clerical  tonsure,  which 
in  the  one  case  was  a  circle,  and  in  the  other  a 
half  moon,  and  some  ritualistic  peculiarity  in  the 
Ordination  Office.  The  British  Church  had  a 
Liturgy,  and  a  version  of  the  Bible  of  its  own,  and 
on  all  the  great  questions  of  the  Gospel  held  the 
Faith  as  set  forth  by  the  General  Councils.  The 
British  Bishops  were  not  disposed  to  give  up  their 
special  customs.  They  were  not  obliged  to  do  so 
by  any  canon  or  moral  law. 

They  stated  that  they  had  followed  the  cus- 
toms of  their  spiritual  ancestors,  received  through 
Gaul  from  St.  John  the  Apostle. 

Though  St.  Augustine  is  said  to  have  worked  a 
miracle  in  support  of  his  views,  the  British  Bishops 
declined  to  accept  it  as  conclusive  evidence,  and 
postponed  their  decision  to  a  future  conference. 
Augustine  then  resolved  to  reduce  his  demands  to 
the  one  point  of  keeping  Easter,  and  their  uniting 
under  him  as  their  Archbishop.  A  second  con- 
ference was  held.15  The  Britons,  before  coming  to 
it,  are  said  to  have  consulted  with  a  certain  holy 
and  discreet  hermit,  who  said,  "If  Augustine  is  a 


15  Early  Eng.  Ch.  His.,  p.  82,  Bright ;  Cutts'  Angus.  Cant., 
p.  141 ;  Bede,  Ecc.  His.,  ii.  2. 


ST.    AUGUSTINE    AND   THE    BRITISH    BISHOPS. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         101 

man  of  God,  follow  him."  "But  how  shall  we 
know  that  ?"  replied  they.  "Our  Lord  saith,"  he 
replied,  "take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me, 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart.  It  is  to  be  be- 
lieved that  he  has  taken  upon  himself  the  yoke  of 
Christ,  and  that  he  offers  the  same  to  you.  If  he 
is  stern  and  haughty,  however,  it  appears  that  he  is 
not  of  God,  and  we  are  not  to  regard  his  words." 

The  Bishops  replied  again,  "How  shall  we 
learn  even  this  ?"  "Do  you  contrive,"  he  replied, 
"that  he  may  arrive  first  with  his  company  at  the 
place  where  the  Synod  is  to  be  held,  and  if  at  your 
approach,  he  shall  rise  up  to  meet  you,  hear  him 
submissively,  being  assured  that  he  is  the  servant 
of  God.  But  if  he  shall  despise  you  and  not  rise 
up  when  you  approach,  let  him  also  be  despised  by 
you."  The  old  hermit's  conduct  reminds  us  of 
that  of  blessed  St.  Philip  Neri,  who,  when  asked 
to  investigate  the  case  of  a  nun  said  to  be  possessed 
of  miraculous  powers,  walked  to  the  convent,  and 
having  well  soiled  his  boots  by  walking  in  the 
muddy  roads,  at  the  presentation  of  the  nun  to 
himself,  requested  her  to  pull  them  off.  Accus- 
tomed to  be  treated  with  the  reverence  due  to  her 
supernatural  powers,  she  declined  to  do  so.  The 


102  THE  LINEAGE  OP 

saint,  returning  to  Rome,  reported  to  the  Pope, 
"No  special  humility,  no  miracle."  The  Bishops 
in  our  case,  approaching  the  place  of  meeting,  saw 
St.  Augustine  seated  under  the  shade  of  a  great 
oak  tree.  The  British  party  consisted  of  seven 
monks  from  the  convent  at  Bangor,  who  were  also 
Bishops,  and  other  ancient  men,  representatives  of 
the  old  British  Church.  "Alas,"  says  Bishop 
Browne,  "Augustine  retained  his  seat  like  a  sov- 
ereign receiving  a  humble  deputation  from  his  sub- 
jects." The  question  was  decided.  Augustine  was 
willing,  he  said,  that  if  they  would  keep  Easter  at 
the  due  time,  and  unite  under  him  as  their  Bishop, 
all  other  things  would  be  tolerated.  The  British 
Bishops  in  their  sturdy  independence  said  they 
would  not  do  any  of  these  things.  The  conference 
thus  failed,  "but  we  must  observe,"  says  Professor 
Cutts  in  his  history,16  "that  Augustine  did  not  de- 
mand submission  to  the  Roman  See  as  of  divine 
right,  or  pass  any  sort  of  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation upon  the  Bishops  for  their  refusal."  The 
Augustinian  mission  was  not  a  permanently  suc- 
cessful one.  It  lingered  on  with  various  vicissi- 
tudes until  the  time  of  Honorius.  He  died  in  the 


18  Augus.  of  Canterbury,  Cutts,  p.  146. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         103 

year  653,  and  was  the  last  survivor  of  Bishops 
who  traced  their  orders  to  Augustine.  In  time,  the 
Augustinian  succession,  never  large,  died  com- 
pletely out.  We  quote  from  Dr.  Browne :  "As  the 
weary  old  Italian,  Bishop  Honorius,  slowly  dying 
at  Canterbury,  looked  forth  upon  the  field  that  had 
been  entrusted  to  his  predecessors,  he  saw  it  cov- 
ered with  Christian  laborers  but  not  of  his  own 
sending,  the  ministers  of  a  Church,  not  his." 

It  would  be  ungracious,  even  unchristian,  not 
to  acknowledge  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  Anglicans 
owe  to  the  great-hearted  Gregory  in  sending  Augus- 
tine, or  fail  to  acknowledge  his  work  as  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  English 
part  of  Britain.  But  we  must  not  fail,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  our  gratitude  to  those  early  mission- 
aries, ISTinian,  Columba,  Aidan,  Felix,  and  oth- 
ers, who  wrought  the  conversion  and  reconversion 
of  Britain.  Here  we  may  quote  from  Bishop 
Browne:  "Of  all  the  seven  kingdoms,  there  was 
only  one,  named  Kent,  which  owed  its  conversion 
to  the  mission  of  Augustine.  Of  twenty-six  coun- 
ties in  Britain,  there  was  only  one  of  which  it  can 
be  said  that  it  owed  its  permanent  conversion  to 


17  Conversion  of  Heptarchy,  Browne,  p.  186. 


104  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  mission  of  Augustine.  With  few  exceptions, 
England  owed  its  final  and  permanent  conversion 
to  the  labors  of  the  Scotic  Church."1 

How  THEODORE  BECAME  ARCHBISHOP. 

In  the  summer  of  664  occurred  the  "Yellow 
Pest,"  one  of  those  plagues  which  have  ravaged 
Europe  from  time  to  time.  At  that  time  the  affairs 
of  the  Church  in  Britain  were  in  confusion.  The 
kings  of  Northumbria  and  Kent  consulted  with 
other  kings  concerning  the  obtaining  of  an  Arch- 
bishop for  the  vacant  See  of  Canterbury.  They 
selected  Wighurd,  a  good  man  and  a  fit  priest ;  but 
he  died  of  the  pestilence.  There  was  a  monk,  in 
Eastern  orders,  named  Theodore,  a  native  of  St. 
Paul's  birthplace,  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  who  had 
lately  come  to  Rome  in  the  train  of  the  Emperor 
Constans  II.  He  was  sixty-six  years  of  age;  a 
man  of  learning  both  in  secular  and  divine  litera- 
ture, and  of  holiness  of  life.  Hadrian,  Abbot  of  a 
monastery  near  Naples,  and  African  by  nation- 
ality, to  whom  the  position  had  been  offered,  had 
suggested  Theodore,  whom  he  well  knew,  for  the 
position.  Theodore  proved  to  be  a  man  of  great 


18  Browne's  Conver.  Hept.,  p.  178. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         105 

energy  and  orthodoxy  and  sound  judgment.  It  is 
to  him  that  we  owe  the  uniting  of  the  various  Eng- 
lish churches  into  one  province,  over  which  he 
ruled  as  Metropolitan  for  sixteen  years. 

It  was  a  great  day,  May  27,  A.  D.  669,  when 
the  "grand  old  man,"  as  Dean  Hook  calls  him, 
took  his  seat  on  the  throne  of  Canterbury.  On 
September  24th,  A.  D.  673,  at  Hertford,  we  find 
him  holding  the  first  provincial  council.  The  old 
British  Church  had,  in  obedience  to  Apostolic  rule 
or  canon,  kept  up  its  synods,  even  when  driven  into 
the  Welsh  borders.  Now  the  old  and  the  new  were 
united.  This  Council  of  Hertford,  called  by  Theo- 
dore, was  the  first  united  synod.  At  it,  Theodore 
first  asked  each  of  its  members  whether  he  agreed 
to  keep  the  ancient  and  canonical  decrees  of  the 
Fathers.  This  shows  that  the  English  Church  did 
not  consider  herself  independent  of  the  common 
consent.  She  might  legislate  for  herself,  but  her 
legislation  must  be  in  conformity  with  the  whole 
Catholic  Church.  Theodore  proposed  ten  canons 
based  on  the  ancient  law,  all  but  one  of  which  were 
adopted.  This  Council  was  indeed  a  most  memor- 
able one.  It  was  the  first  of  all  the  English 
national  assemblies.  It  gave  expression  to  ecclesi- 


106  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

astical  unity.  It  laid  the  foundation  of  our 
Church's  solidarity.  We  may  well  regard  Theo- 
dore, and  those  who  cooperated  with  him,  with  lov- 
ing gratitude. 

THE  DANISH  INVASION. 

We  cannot  give  our  readers  a  narrative  of  the 
English  Church  without  mentioning  a  second  in- 
vasion, this  time  by  the  heathen  Danes,  or  Vikings. 
There  had  sprung  up  a  nation  of  fierce,  powerful 
warriors  from  the  northern  country  around  the 
Baltic  Sea.  They  had  gone  up  the  great  river- 
roads  of  Germany  and  France.  They  had  become 
a  terror  to  civilization.  They  had  made  settle- 
ments also  in  Ireland.  They  desired  the  subjuga- 
tion of  England  in  order  to  connect  and  consolidate 
their  growing  empire.  They  hated  with  an  inex- 
pressible hatred  the  Britons  because  they  were 
Christians.  The  story  of  their  various  invasions 
is  a  long  one.  Their  first  recorded  appearance  was 
off  the  coast  of  France  in  787.  Six  years  later  they 
destroyed  the  holy  monastery  of  Lindisf  arne.  For 
a  period  of  some  seventy  years  there  were  constant 
raids  on  the  English  coast.  And  wherever  they 
went,  they  burned  the  churches,  destroyed  monas- 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         107 

teries,  sacked  them  of  their  treasures,  and  massa- 
cred priests  and  women  and  children.  In  866 
they  deliberately  planned  and  carried  out  a  scheme 
for  the  subjugation  of  the  whole  country.  There 
were  many  instances  of  heroic  courage  and  loyalty 
to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

The  Danes,  under  Ivar,  invaded  East  Anglia. 
Their  superiority  in  discipline,  their  reckless  dar- 
ing, and  their  skilful  leadership,  enabled  them  en- 
tirely to  defeat  the  East  Anglian  forces.  Ivar 
ordered  Edmund,  their  king,  to  be  brought  before 
him.  He  demanded  him  "to  divide  with  him  his 
treasures,  to  reign  as  his  lieutenant,  and  to  aban- 
don Christianity  for  the  gods  of  the  north." 
"Who  are  you,"  so  runs  the  haughty  traditional 
message  of  Ivar,  "that  you  should  dare  to  with- 
stand our  power?  The  storm  of  the  ocean  is  no 
bar  to  our  enterprise,  but  positively  serves  us  in- 
stead of  oars.  The  roarings  of  the  sky,  its  light- 
ning flashes,  have  never  injured  us.  Submit  then 
to  a  master  whom  even  the  elements  serve."  "Tell 
Ivar,"  answered  Edmund  to  the  messenger  bidding 
him  abjure  Christianity,  "that  I  am  not  terrified 
by  his  threats.  You  may  destroy  this  frail  body; 


10  Ch.  of  Eng.,  Dean  Spence,  p.  362. 


108  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

death  is  more  desirable  than  the  service  of  de- 
mons." The  savage  Danish  chief  then  took  the 
king,  bound  him  to  a  tree,  scourged  him  with  re- 
morseless severity,  then  riddled  the  tortured  body 
with  arrows,  and  cut  off  his  head.  Another  saint 
was  crowned  in  heaven. 

The  Danes  now  turned  their  attention  to  Wes- 
sex.  They  sailed  up  the  Thames  in  large  force. 
The  Wessex  Christians  made  a  sturdy  resistance. 
Very  many  battles  took  place  with  varying  success. 
And  here  we  give  another  Christian  incident. 
Early  in  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Ashdown,  Alfred, 
then  a  young  man,  was  left  in  command.  Being 
hard  pressed,  he  sent  a  messenger  to  his  brother 
the  king  to  send  him  reinforcements  without  de- 
lay. King  Ethelred  was  hearing  Mass,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  solemn  prayer  which  he  deemed  the 
best  preparation  for  the  stern  battle  which  lay 
before  him.  He  bade  the  messenger  of  Alfred  tell 
his  brother  that  the  king  would  come  when  the 
Mass  was  done.  "God  first,  man  after,"  were 
Ethelred's  traditional  words.  In  this  case,  the 
Christians  conquered,  but  the  Vikings  received  aid 
from  the  Continent.  They  were  fierce,  powerful, 
and  skilful  warriors.  They  pressed  on  their  work 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         109 

of  subjugation,  until  Wessex  was  devastated  and 
exhausted  in  resources,  almost  crushed  out  of  ex- 
istence. Then  it  was  that  King  Alfred  retired  to 
a  little  secluded  place  in  the  marshes  in  Somerset 
called  Athelney.  Here  for  three  months  he 
waited,  prayed,  and  gradually  gathered  about  him 
a  new  force.  Suddenly  with  great  skill  he  sur- 
prised the  Danes,  who  supposed  the  war  was  over, 
and  defeated  them.  They  fell  back  into  the  shel- 
ter of  their  armed  camp,  which  Alfred  besieged 
and  took.  The  power  of  the  Danes  was  broken. 
The  peace  of  Wedmore  was  then  concluded.  The 
Danes  by  it  were  forced  to  leave  England,  or,  re- 
maining, to  accept  Christianity. 

AFTER  THE  DANISH  INVASION. 

The  Danes,  though  conquered  by  Alfred,  re- 
tained dominion  in  the  northern  part.  Though 
the  churches  had  been  destroyed,  and  Christianity 
almost  exterminated,  a  little  band  of  Christians 
kept  alive  the  faith  at  York.  Gradually  it  ex- 
tended, and  the  scattered  Christians  were  brought 
together  and  some  converts  were  made  among  the 
Danes,  though  the  northern  part  was  not  recovered 
to  Christianity  till  after  the  Norman  Conquest. 


110  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

In  the  south,  however,  Alfred  bestowed  much  at- 
tention upon  the  revival  of  education.  It  was 
greatly  necessary  for  the  clergy,  who  had  sunk  into 
much  ignorance.  Alfred's  policy  was  carried  on 
subsequently  by  Edgar.  He  was  greatly  helped 
by  the  great  Archbishop  Dunstan.  Dunstan  was  a 
man  of  brilliant  talents,  strong  of  will,  of  great 
devotion,  and  noted  for  his  learning.  A  states- 
man, no  less  than  an  ecclesiastic,  of  striking  per- 
sonality, he  infused  a  new  life  into  the  Church. 
He  was  at  one  time  Abbot  of  Glastonbury,  and 
made  it  a  great  centre  for  scholarship.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  cause  of  education  was  the  cause  of 
religion.  He  was  not  only  a  great  organizer,  but 
a  wise  and  practical  teacher.  Perhaps  no  years  of 
his  life  were  more  fruitful  than  those  when  he 
was  Abbot  of  Glastonbury.  Subsequently  he  be- 
came Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  where  he  ruled 
for  seventeen  years.  Dunstan  was  the  king's  great 
counsellor.  There  is  a  story  of  St.  Dunstan  re- 
proving King  Edwy.  At  the  coronation  feast  the 
king  absented  himself,  preferring  to  be  in  the  com- 
pany of  Elgiva,  his  betrothed,  or  bride.  The 
nobles  felt  keenly  the  indignity  of  the  king's  leav- 
ing them,  and  sent  Dunstan  to  bring  him  back. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         Ill 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  duty  to  perform,  but  Dun- 
stan  succeeded,  although  bringing  upon  himself 
the  undying  hatred  of  the  king,  who,  instead  of  re- 
garding him  for  doing  his  duty,  forced  him  into 
exile.  He  was  the  first  of  those  great  ecclesiastical 
statesmen  who  played  such  a  prominent  part  in  the 
history  of  England.  He  greatly  encouraged  the  de- 
velopment of  the  monasteries,  for  he  regarded  the 
monastic  system  as  necessary  for  the  renewal  of 
the  Church's  life.  To  their  influence  we  greatly 
owe  the  recovery  of  the  Christianity  of  England. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  living  a  life  of  de- 
votional retirement.  He  had  a  happy  and  peaceful 
ending  to  his  career.  On  Ascension  Day,  988,  he 
preached  three  times  in  his  Cathedral,  and,  it  is 
said,  with  unwonted  fervor  and  eloquence.  On  the 
Sunday  following,  he  preached  to  the  brethren, 
and  summoning  them  to  him,  received  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ,  and  began  the  recitation  of  a 
psalm,  "The  merciful  and  gracious  Lord  hath  so 
done  His  marvellous  works  that  they  ought  to  be 
had  in  remembrance.  He  hath  given  meat  unto 
them  that  fear  Him;"  and  with  these  words,  he 
fell  asleep.20 


*<>  Bede's  Ecc.  His.,  Book  IV.  5. 


112  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

We  here  conclude  our  account  of  the  Conver- 
sion of  the  Heptarchy. 

We  now,  returning  to  the  spiritual  condition  of 
the  Church,  state  what  had  been  the  doctrine  and 
worship  during  this  long  period. 

WORSHIP  AND  DOCTRINE. 

The  Church  was  known  in  Britain  as  the 
"Church  of  England/'  and  its  worship  and  cere- 
monial bear  witness  to  the  continuity  of  the 
Church  from  the  earliest  times.  As  it  had  in- 
herited the  ancient  faith,  so  it  preserved  the  an- 
cient worship.  We  have  evidence  of  this  from  the 
canons  of  Edgar  (959-975).  They  were  made,  it 
is  stated  by  Cutts,  under  the  influence  of  Arch- 
bishop Dunstan,  and  set  forth  a  standard  of  life 
and  morals  for  the  clergy.  They  declare  the  great 
duty  of  the  clergy  to  be  to  "celebrate  the  worship  of 
Almighty  God,  to  intercede  for  all  Christian  folk, 
to  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  their  Bishop,  and  to 
be  ready  to  help  God-ward,  and  man-ward." 
"That  all  things  belonging  to  the  Church  be  wor- 
thily appointed,  that  there  be  always  lights  in 
Church  at  Mass ;  that  there  be  no  negligence  about 
anything  consecrated:  holy  water,  incense,  bread, 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         113 

or  anything  holy;  that  at  the  right  time  the  bell 
be  rung,  and  the  priest  say  his  Hours  in  Church, 
and  that  he  resort  there  to  pray,  and  to  intercede 
for  all.  That  no  priest  come  into  the  Church  or 
stall  without  his  upper  garment,  or  minister  with- 
out his  vestment.  That  every  priest  hear  confes- 
sions, and  give  penance,  and  carry  the  Eucharist 
to  the  sick,  and  anoint  him  if  he  desires  it;  that 
every  priest  have  oil  for  baptism  and  for  anoint- 
ing the  sick.  Let  him  promote  Christianity  in 
every  way,  as  well  by  preaching  as  by  good  ex- 
ample, and  he  shall  be  rewarded  by  God." 

By  these  canons  of  Edgar's  the  priests  were  re- 
quired to  preach  every  Sunday,  and  to  expound 
the  Scripture.  They  were  to  teach  people  to  pay 
their  dues  to  God.  They  were  to  distribute  peo- 
ple's alms  so  as  to  please  God,  and  dispose  people 
to  almsgiving.  They  were  to  avoid  drunkenness, 
and  warn  the  people  against  it.  They  were  to 
eschew  unbecoming  occupations,  and  to  behave  dis- 
creetly and  worthily.  The  priest  was  not  to  be  a 
hunter  or  hawker,  but  to  occupy  himself  with  his 
books,  as  became  his  order.  He  was  to  bring  the 
books  and  vestments  that  they  might  be  inspected. 


21  Parish  Priests  in  Middle  Ages,  Quits,  p.  66. 


114  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

He  was  to  see  that  the  children  be  brought  within 
thirty-seven  days  to  baptism.  The  priest  was  to 
forbid  all  well-worship,  necromancy,  or  things 
which  pertain  to  heathenism.  The  priests  were  to 
keep  the  Churches  for  the  divine  ministry  and 
pure  worship,  and  for  nothing  else.  They  were 
not  to  allow  idle  talking,  ill  deeds,  unbecoming 
drinkings,  nor  any  other  idle  practices  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  Church.  They  were  to  take  care  that  no 
one  was  buried  in  the  church,  unless  he  were 
known  to  be  well-pleasing  to  God.  The  priest  was 
not  to  celebrate  the  Eucharist  in  any  house,  only  in 
Church,  except  in  cases  of  extreme  illness.  He 
was  not  to  consecrate,  except  on  a  consecrated  al- 
tar. For  this  purpose,  he  had  a  proper  slab  of 
stone,  which  he  used  on  journeys  and  in  visitation 
of  the  sick.  He  was  not  to  celebrate  without  a 
book  and  the  canons  of  the  Mass  before  his  eyes, 
that  he  might  make  no  mistake.  He  was  to  have  a 
corporal  when  he  celebrated,  and  all  necessary 
things  were  to  be  rightly  appointed.  He  must  re- 
serve the  Host  ready  for  any  that  had  need.  He 
must  celebrate  with  pure  wine  and  pure  water. 
He  must  not  celebrate  Mass  without  partaking 
himself.  Every  one  should  receive  fasting,  except 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         115 

in  case  of  extreme  sickness.  The  chalice  must  be 
of  molten  material,  never  of  wood.  Such  was  the 
ceremonial  of  the  Church  of  England,  all  in  gen- 
eral conformity  with  the  ceremonial  handed  down 
from  Apostolic  times. 

The  orthodoxy  of  the  united  Church,  the  "Ec- 
clesia  Anglicana,"  is  seen  in  the  utterances  of  the 
Council  of  Hatfield,  680,  and  the  canons  there 
formulated.  The  Synod  declared  its  "acceptance 
of  the  true  and  orthodox  faith  as  our  Lord  Jesus 
in  the  Flesh  delivered  the  same  to  His  disciples, 
and  as  it  is  delivered  in  the  Creed  of  the  holy 
Fathers,  and  of  all  holy  and  universal  synods  in 
general,  and  by  the  consent  of  all  approved  doctors 
of  the  Catholic  Church."  " 

The  Church  then,  as  it  does  now,  appealed  to 
the  whole  Church  for  guidance.  It  is  this  princi- 
ple that  should  govern  our  legislators. 

We  may  observe  for  the  benefit  of  some  of  our 
lay  readers  that  there  had  been  at  the  time  of  which 
we  have  been  writing  five  holy  and  universally 
accepted  councils.  The  first  one,  that  of  Nicea  in 
325,  had  been  called  together  by  the  Roman  Em- 
peror, and  was  presided  over  by  Bishop  Hosius  of 


22  Docs,  of  Eng.  Ch.  His.,  Gee  &  Hardy,  p.  13. 


116  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Spain.  At  Nicea,  it  Avas  declared  that  our  Lord 
was  "consubstantial"  with  the  Father.  He  was 
very  God  of  very  God.  The  second  Council  was 
called  the  First  of  Constantinople.  It  assembled 
in  381,  and  was  presided  over  by  Meletius  of  Anti- 
och,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  Timothy  of  Alexan- 
dria. It  proclaimed  the  deity  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  third  in  order  was  held  at  Ephesus,  over 
which  Cyril  was  president.  It  declared  that  there 
was  but  one  Person  in  the  Incarnate  Lord.  At 
Chalcedon  in  451,  the  Council  proclaimed  the  two 
natures,  the  Divine  and  the  Human,  in  Christ.  It 
was  at  this  Council  that  Constantinople  was 
erected  into  a  patriarchate  second  to  Rome.  It 
held  that  the  precedency  of  Rome  rested  on  the 
political  ground  of  its  being  the  capital  of  the  em- 
pire, and  as  the  seat  of  the  imperial  court  had  been 
moved  to  Constantinople,  it  declared  that  it  should 
be  second  in  dignity.  The  Council  thus  ignored 
any  claim  of  the  Romans  based  on  connection  with 
St.  Peter.  The  Fifth  General  Council  met  in  553 
at  Constantinople.  It  stated  the  truth  that  there 
were  two  wills  in  Christ.  He  was  thus,  by  the 
General  Councils  everywhere  accepted,  "declared 
of  one  substance  with  the  Father,  God  of  God,  pos- 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         117 

sessed  of  two  natures,  with  two  wills,  and  the 
natures  united  in  one  Person."  Subsequently  the 
Sixth  General  Council  was  held,  and  the  Faith 
there  declared  was  recognized  by  the  English 
Church  by  Synod  held  at  Chelsea,  787.  It  was 
'here  that  the  Archbishops,  Bishops,  and  Abbots 
vowed  with  all  the  devotion  of  their  minds  that 
"they  would  keep  the  decrees  there  promulgated  to 
the  utmost  of  their  powers  by  the  help  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  that  the  Holy,  inviolate  Faith  of  the 
JSTicene  Council  be  firmly  held  by  all,  and  that  the 
priests  of  every  Church  profess,  hold,  and  teach 
the  Apostolic  and  Catholic  Faith  of  the  Six  Coun- 
cils, as  approved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  these  Councils  were 
not  in  the  nature  of  a  Supreme  Court,  or  court  of 
last  resort.  The  Bishops  did  not  come  together  to 
prove  doctrines  out  of  the  Scriptures,  or  from  other 
sources,  but  each  to  bear  his  independent  witness  as 
to  what  had  been  the  Faith  from  the  beginning. 
The  unanimity  of  their  testimony  was  a  proof  of 
its  divine  origin.  And  our  Anglican  Church  to- 
day appeals  as  she  always  has  appealed  to  the  un- 
disputed Councils  and  to  the  consent  of  undivided 


23  Docs.  Eng.  Ch.  Hist.,  Sec.  viii.  p.  32. 


118  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Christendom.  She  appeals  for  her  test  of  doctrine 
to  the  common  consent.  She  holds  now  to  the  old 
St.  Vincent  de  Lerins  rule,  "Quod  semper,  quod 
ubique,  quod  ab  omnibus."  In  this  age,  when  men 
are  tossing  about  on  the  waves  of  unbelief  and 
asking  for  some  safe  guide,  the  position  of  the  An- 
glican Church  cannot  be  too  well  understood. 
What  this  ancient  Church  of  ours  held,  we,  as 
Catholic  Churchmen,  hold  to-day.  As  Lord  Chan- 
cellor Selborne  said,  the  doctrines  and  practices 
which  the  Church  of  England  rejected  at  the 
Reformation  were  of  mediaeval,  not  of  Apostolic, 
times,  and  they  were  unknown  when  the  Church 
of  England  was  founded,  and  for  ages  afterwards. 
He  says :  "If  the  authorized  doctrine  and  practice 
of  the  Church  of  England  at  the  present  time 
should  be  compared  with  that  of  the  Christian 
Church  generally,  including  the  Church  of  Rome, 
in  the  days  of  Augustine,  it  would  require  a  strong 
application  of  the  theological  microscope  to  dis- 
cover any  real,  substantial  difference  between 
them."  24 


**  Defence  Ch.  Eng.,  Selborne,  p.  7. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.    119 


BOOKS  REFERRED  TO  IN  CHAPTER  IV. 

Ecclesiastical  History.    Bede. 

Documents  of  the  Church  of  England.     Gee  and  Hardy. 

Augustine  of  Canterbury.    Cutts. 

Liturgy  of  the  Celtic  Church.    Warren. 

Early  English  Church  History.    Bright. 

Much  use  has  been  made  in  this  chapter  of  The  Conver- 
sion of  the  Heptarchy,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Browne  of 
Bristol. 


CHAPTEK  V. 
THE  DIVISION,  EAST  AND  WEST. 

A  GREAT  and  terrible  calamity  happened  in  the 
Church  of  Christ.  After  a  thousand  years,  in 
which  a  practical  unity  existed,  Eastern  and  West- 
ern Christendom  separated.  Satan,  who  by  the 
discipline  of  the  Church  was  bound  for  a  thousand 
years,  now  so  far  prevailed  as  to  rend  the  Church 
asunder.  This,  which  is  one  of  the  most  important 
facts  in  Church  History,  is  often  overlooked  or  ig- 
nored, both  by  Roman  Catholics  and  American 
Church  laymen.  "A  knowledge  of  the  claims  of  the 
Eastern  Church,"  said  Dean  Stanley,  "keeps  up  the 
equipoise  of  Christendom."  If  we  wish  to  have  a 
true  view  of  Church  history  and  Christian  doc- 
trine, we  must  not  overlook  the  Eastern  Orthodox 
Churches.  We  can  as  little  understand  the  Church 
without  taking  the  fact  of  the  separation  of  the 
East  and  West  into  account,  as  we  can  understand 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.          121 

American  history  apart  from  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  our  separation  from  Great 
Britain. 

Long  before  the  Anglican  Reformation,  with 
its  rejection  of  the  papacy,  a  like  rejection  had 
taken  place ;  and  a  division  had  been  created  which 
has  lasted  to  this  day.  This  is  a  most  important 
fact.  It  was  on  July  16,  1054,  that  the  legates 
from  Rome  placed  a  document  of  excommunica- 
tion on  the  high  altar  of  the  Cathedral  Church  of 
St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople,  and  shaking  the 
dust  off  their  feet,  hurriedly  and  in  anger  left  the 
building.1  It  was  a  few  days  later,  that  the  East- 
ern Church,  acting  through  its  Patriarch,  returned 
anathema  by  anathema,  by  solemnly  excommuni- 
cating the  Church  of  Rome. 

The  principal  causes  of  division  were  the  in- 
sertion by  the  Romans  of  the  "Filioque"  in  the 
Creed,  and  the  Papal  claim  by  divine  authority 
for  supremacy  in  the  Church.  The  contention  of 
the  Easterners  was  in  behalf  of  the  ancient  original 
form  of  the  Creed  and  for  freedom  from  papal 
domination. 


1  Mother  of  All  ChurcJies,  Cole,  Chaps,  ill.  and  Iv. 


122  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

To  understand  the  Eastern  position,  we  must 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  Church  had  gradually 
conformed  its  organization  to  the  lines  of  the  em- 
pire. The  Roman  empire  was  divided  into  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  provinces.  In  a  chief 
town  of  these  provinces  the  Church  had  estab- 
lished a  Bishop  having  some  jurisdiction  over  local 
Bishops.  There  was  thus  in  each  province  a  met- 
ropolitan. The  provinces  themselves  were  divided 
into  four  or  five  exarchs,  which  came  to  be  called 
patriarchates.  The  Bishops,  or  Patriarchs,  out- 
ranked the  metropolitans,  and  also  took  rank  or 
precedence  among  themselves.  So  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  Bishops  of  Constantinople,  because  it  was 
new  Rome,  and  those  of  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and 
subsequently  Jerusalem,  together  with  the  Roman 
Bishop  in  the  West,  held  a  certain  preeminence 
of  honor  and  dignity  above  their  brethren.  The 
Bishop  of  Rome,  however,  had — by  virtue  of 
Rome's  having  been  the  capital,  the  wealth  and 
generosity  of  the  Church,  its  claim  to  be  an  Apos- 
tolic See  founded  by  Peter  and  Paul,  and  by  a 
growing  assertion  based  on  Peter's  temporary 
leadership,  and  subsequently  by  aid  of  documents 
known  as  the  Forged  Decretals — assumed  a  posi- 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSn 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         123 

tion  of  lordship  over  the  other  Bishops.  This  as- 
sumed authority  was  not  in  the  opinion  of  the  East- 
erns supported  by  the  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture 
as  interpreted  by  the  Fathers.  Nor  was  an  abso- 
lute monarchical  rule,  according  to  their  view,  the 
true  principle  of  unity,  as  declared  by  Christ.  It 
was  of  human  origin  and  man's  love  of  power,  and 
did  not  bear  witness  to  the  Church's  divine  mis- 
sion. For  this  cause,  and  also  on  account  of  the 
independent  Roman  insertion  of  the  "Filioque" 
into  the  original  Nicene  Creed,  the  great  rupture 
between  the  East  and  the  West  took  place. 

The  question  of  the  Filioque,  or  the  proceeding 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Father  and  the  Son 
was  a  profound  theological  question.  There  are 
two  processions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  temporal 
and  the  eternal  one.  No  question  is  ever  raised 
concerning  the  former.  Our  Lord  after  His  Ascen- 
sion sent  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  Church.  He  said 
concerning  the  Holy  Spirit,  "I  will  send  Him  unto 
you."  The  question  relates  to  the  eternal  proces- 
sion, or  the  action  which  takes  place  in  the  divine 
Being  Himself. 

The  Easterns,  with  their  vigorous  sense  of  the 
unity  of  God,  declared,  which  is  true,  that  there 


124  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

could  be  only  one  "source"  or  fountain  of  life 
in  the  Blessed  Being  of  God.  This  is  represented 
to  us  by  the  term  "Father,"  who  is  the  one  source 
of  Life  in  the  Godhead.  To  hold,  they  said,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  proceeded  from  the  Father  and. 
the  Son,  would  be  in  violation  of  the  unity  of  the 
divine  nature.  It  would  in  fact  postulate  two 
Gods.  The  answer  made  is  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
does  not  proceed  from  the  Son  in  the  same  way 
that  He  proceeds  from  the  Father.  There  can 
only  be  one  source,  it  is  true,  in  the  divine  life. 
The  Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  as  the  active  principle 
of  love,  proceeds  from  the  Father  to  the  Son,  who 
is  the  express  Image  of  His  Person,  and  in  whom 
the  Father  delights,  but  proceeds  back  through  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  as  the  manifestation  of  the  Love 
of  the  Son  to  the  Eternal  Source.  This  statement 
concerning  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Easterns  are  will- 
ing to  acknowledge  as  theologically  sound ;  but  they 
further  make  objection  that  the  term  "filioque" 
was  not  part  of  the  original  Creed,  and  was  put 
into  it  by  the  Western  Church  with  the  sanction 
of  papal  authority.  For  the  East  to  admit  this 
insertion  would  be  for  it  to  admit  the  whole  claim 
of  the  papacy ;  a  thing  which  it  cannot  rightly  do. 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         125 

If  Christian  fellowship  and  intercommunion  be- 
tween ourselves  and  the  Eastern  Churches  is  ever 
to  be  established,  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to 
add  an  explanatory  note  or  to  conform  our  recita- 
tion of  the  Nicene  Creed  to  the  original  form. 

There  are  to-day  about  eight  millions  of  people 
under  the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople.2  The 
three  ancient  patriarchates  of  Alexandria,  Antioch, 
and  Jerusalem  have  now  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  adherents.  There  are  about  three  and 
a  half  millions  belonging  to  the  national  churches 
of  Servia,  Montenegro,  and  Austro-Hungary,  and 
four  and  a  half  millions  to  Koumania  and  Greece. 
There  are  about  two  millions  or  more  under  the 
government  of  what  is  called  the  Holy  Synod. 
The  Church  in  Russia  is  the  largest  in  numbers 
and  in  influence.  It  is  under  the  government  of 
its  Holy  Synod,  of  which  the  Metropolitan  of  St. 
Petersburg  is  the  presiding  officer.  Moscow  was 
formerly  a  patriarchate,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
this  position  will  again  be  given  it  with  the  consent 
of  the  other  Eastern  Churches.  There  are  about 
eighty  millions  of  Russians  in  this  Church,  which 


2  Papers  and  Reports  of  Eastern  Ch.  Assoc. ;  Synopsis  of 
Oriental  Christianity,  A.  Riley. 


126  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

has  done  a  noble  missionary  work  within  its  own 
borders  and  in  the  conversion  of  the  northern  part 
of  Asia.8 

It  looks  as  though  the  Eastern  Churches,  re- 
garded as  a  whole,  though  they  have  had  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  the  Mahometan  conquest,  have  never- 
theless, done  a  vast  and  glorious  missionary  work, 
and  through  divine  charity  have  held  together.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  we  look  at  the  west,  we  find  that 
the  papacy  has  been  a  constant  source  of  division, 
not  a  conservator  of  unity.  Tor  the  Eoman  Church 
has  lost  the  northern  half  of  Europe,  and  is  no 
longer  a  dominating  influence  with  the  Teutonic 
races,  upon  whom  the  future  civilization  of  the 
world  depends.  It  is  also  a  decadent  force  among 
the  Latin  nations  of  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
even  of  Italy  herself.  While  the  papacy  has  be- 
come, by  the  decree  of  papal  infallibility,  more 
solid  as  a  machine  and  man-made  government,  the 
decree  has  led  to  the  revolt  of  some  hundred  thou- 
sand or  more  adherents,  who  have  united  .under 
a  valid  Episcopate,  with  the  title  of  "Old  Cath- 
olics." 


8  SmernofFs  Russian  Orthodox  Missions. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         127 

In  doctrine  and  worship,  the  Eastern  Churches 
have  been  marked  by  their  conservative  spirit. 
They  hold  the  doctrines  declared  by  the  Seven  Gen- 
eral Councils,  and  they  take  Holy  Scripture  as 
interpreted  by  the  Fathers  for  their  rule  of  faith. 
Like  the  Anglican  Church,  they  reject  the  doctrine 
of  the  papal  supremacy  and  Rome's  modern  de- 
clared doctrine  of  papal  infallibility.  Though  hav- 
ing great  reverence  for  the  ever-blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  and  devotion  to  her  as  the  bringer-forth  of 
the  God-Man,  Jesus  Christ,  they  know  nothing  of 
the  new  Romish  dogma  of  the  immaculate  concep- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  nor  do  they  hold, 
as  Rome  does,  that  the  faithful  departed  hereafter 
suffer  in  the  penal  fires  of  a  purgatory  to  satisfy 
the  justice  of  God  for  forgiven  sins. 

They  have  their  liturgy  in  a  vernacular,  which 
can  be  understood  of  the  people.  They  give  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  in  both  kinds.  Their  parish 
priests  are  married.  They  pray,  as  Christ  prayed, 
and  as  the  Church  has  ever  prayed,  for  the  de- 
parted. They  believe  in  the  Real  Presence  of 
Christ's  Body  and  Blood  in  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
The  Russian  Church  has,  however,  "dissociated  it- 
self from  the  Aristotelian  teaching  as  to  substance 


128  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

and  accidents."  Their  people  practise  confession 
to  God  in  the  presence  of  a  priest,  who,  by  absolu- 
tion, assures  them,  being  penitent,  of  their  forgive- 
ness. They  ask  of  God,  through  Christ,  a  portion 
in  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  whom,  as  intercessors, 
they  invoke.  Their  theory  is  that  whom  they  may 
pray  for,  their  prayers  they  may  ask.  Thus  in- 
voking the  blessed  Mother  of  God,  they  also  pray 
for  her.  They  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints. 
Their  doctrines  are  set  forth  fully  in  their  cate- 
chism, which  is  far  more  comprehensive  than  ours, 
and  based  in  all  points  on  Holy  Scripture.  Their 
racial  and  oriental  descent  makes  them  more  ex- 
pressive in  their  devotions  than  ourselves.  They 
often  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  prostrate 
themselves  in  the  Church's  service.  They  stand 
praying  before  the  sacred  pictures  or  icons,  but 
do  not  pray  to  them.  Their  catechism  forbids  this. 
It  teaches  them  that  when  they  look  on  them  with 
their  eyes,  mentally  to  look  to  God  with  their 
hearts. 

The  Easterns  show  publicly  an  intense  feeling 
of  devotion  and  gratitude  to  God.    After  their  de- 


*  Mother  of  All  Churches,  Cole,  54. 


1 


ST.    SAVIOUR  S    CHURCH,    MOSCOW. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         129 

liverance  from  Napoleon,  they  erected  the  great 
and  beautiful  Church  of  S.  Saviour,  holding  ten 
thousand  people,  at  Moscow,  to  commemorate  the 
event.  The  English,  on  the  other  hand,  with  their 
practical  business  spirit,  built  a  bridge  over  the 
Thames,  and  called  it  Waterloo  Bridge,  as  an  out- 
ward expression  of  their  victory. 

As  the  Eastern  Church  is  the  inheritor  of  the 
earliest  traditions,  it  is  useful  to  study  her  forms 
of  worship.  The  church  building  has  a  "naos," 
which,  like  our  Anglican  word  "nave,"  signifies  a 
ship.  It  declares  the  doctrine  that  the  Church  is 
the  ark  of  safety.  At  the  east  end,  there  is  a  choir, 
or  "soleas,"  which  is  a  platform  raised  a  few  steps 
above  the  nave,  where  the  choir,  composed  of  men 
and  boys,  stands  on  either  side.  Here  the  deacon, 
leading  the  congregation,  says  the  prayers  and 
reads  the  Gospel.  The  soleas  is  separated  from 
the  sanctuary,  or  "bema,"  by  a  solid  screen,  called 
the  "iconostasis."  It  has  three  doors,  and  is  cov- 
ered with  sacred  pictures  or  icons,  which  give  the 
name  to  the  screen.  On  either  side  of  the  central 
or  royal  door  are  icons  representing  our  Lord  and 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  The  iconostasis  is  made  very 
beautiful  and  glorious  with  representations  of  the 


130  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

saints.  Within  the  sanctuary  or  bema,  stands,  in 
front  of  the  royal  door,  the  Holy  Table.  The  term 
Altar,  we  may  observe,  is  given  to  the  whole  space 
within  which  the  communion  table  stands.  The 
latter  is  not  long  like  those  in  the  Western  Church, 
but  square.  It  is  sometimes  of  stone,  but  oftener, 
we  believe,  of  wood,  as  most  like  that  of  the  Altar 
of  the  Cross  on  which  Christ  was  offered.  On  it 
stands  the  book  of  the  Gospels,  elaborately  bound 
and  ornamented,  and  a  pyx,  containing  the  re- 
served Sacrament.  A  cross,  which  may  be  of  sil- 
ver, and  is  certain  to  be  very  handsome  whatever 
the  material,  lies  on  the  table.  The  two  or  more 
branch  candlesticks  which  are  used  in  the  service 
are  also  to  be  found  there.  The  Bishop's  seat  or 
throne,  raised  a  few  steps,  is  in  the  rear  of  the 
altar,  with  seats  for  the  clergy  on  either  side.  On 
the  north  side  of  the  sanctuary  is  a  small  chapel 
known  as  the  "Prothesis." 

Here  the  Holy  Elements  for  the  Communion 
are  prepared.  This  is  done  most  reverently  and 
with  a  series  of  prayers.  Here,  too,  the  Priest 
vests  for  the  service.  Over  the  cassock  he  wears  a 
"stoicharion,"  which  corresponds  to  our  alb,  or  long 
surplice.  It  is  made,  however,  not  of  linen  like 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.          131 

our  own,  but  of  silk  or  velvet.  In  addition,  the 
deacon  wears  the  "epimanikia,"  which  are  close  fit- 
ting cuffs.  These  perhaps  were  originally  adopted 
as  a  matter  of  practical  use,  like  our  amice,  which 
serves  as  a  collar  to  our  alb.  The  deacon  also  wears 
the  "orrarian,"  or  stole.  The  priest  wears  both  of 
these  latter  vestments,  but  the  two  parts  of  the 
stole  are  united  so  that  it  must  be  put  on  over  the 
head  through  an  opening  in  the  top.  At  the 
Eucharist  the  priest  wears  the  "phelonion,"  which 
corresponds  to  our  chasuble.  The  Bishop  wears  an 
"epigonation,"  which  hangs  from  his  girdle  to  the 
right  knee  and  is  symbolical  of  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  The  Bishop  also  wears  a  mitre,  which, 
though  unlike  ours  in  shape,  is  much  ornamented. 
The  Eastern  Churches  use  the  ancient  liturgies 
of  St.  James  and  St.  Chrysostom.  It  is  pleasing 
to  notice  that  there  are  portions  of  the  service 
which  we  have  in  common  with  them.  Like  them, 
we  have  an  office  of  Morning  Prayer  or  Litany, 
which  precedes  the  Eucharist.  Our  Epistle,  Gos- 
pel, and  Creed,  and  subsequent  Consecration  Pray- 
er, proceed  in  the  same  order  as  theirs.  Much  like 
them,  we  have  our  glorious  Ter  Sanctus.  The  priest 
says,  Lift  up  your  hearts.  Choms:  We  lift  them 


132  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

up  unto  the  Lord.  Priest :  Let  us  give  thanks  to  the 
Lord.  Chorus:  It  is  meet  and  right  to  worship  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  the  consubstantial  and 
undivided  Trinity.  Chorus:  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord 
of  Sabaoth,  heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  Thy  glory ; 
Hosanna  in  the  highest ;  blessed  is  He  that  cometh 
in  the  Name  of  the  Lord;  hosanna  in  the  highest. 
Their  prayers  are  much  more  full  and  devo- 
tional in  expression  than  our  classically  condensed 
collects.  They  constantly  speak  of  God  as  the  good 
God,  the  Lover  of  mankind,  and  their  canon  or 
consecrating  prayer  has  elements  in  it  not  unlike 
our  own.  Thus  they  pray,  "O  Lord,  Lover  of 
mankind,  we  cry  and  say,  Holy  and  most  Holy 
art  Thou,  and  Thine  only  Begotten  Son,  and  Thy 
Holy  Spirit;  Holy  and  most  holy  Thou,  great  is 
Thy  glory;  who  so  lovedst  the  world,  that  Thou 
didst  give  Thine  only  Begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life;  Who  came  and  fulfilled  all  things 
necessary  for  our  salvation.  Who  in  the  same 
night  in  which  He  was  delivered  up,  or  rather  did 
deliver  up  Himself  for  the  life  of  the  world,  taking 
bread  in  His  holy,  spotless,  and  undefiled  Hands, 
gave  thanks,  blessed,  sanctified  and  brake  it,  and 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         133 

gave  it  to  His  holy  disciples  and  Apostles,  saying, 
Take,  eat;  this  is  My  Body,  which  is  broken  for 
you  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Chorus:  "Amen." 

"Likewise  also  after  the  Supper  the  Cup  also, 
saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  My  Blood 
of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you  and 
for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Chorus: 
"Amen." 

"Mindful,  therefore,  of  this  command  of  our 
Saviour,  and  of  all  things  which  He  wrought  for 
us,  His  Cross,  His  Burial,  His  Resurrection  on  the 
third  day,  His  Ascension  into  Heaven,  His  Session 
on  the  right  hand,  His  second  coming  to  judge  the 
world,  in  all  and  through  all  we  offer  unto  Thee 
Thine  own  of  Thine  own."  Chorus:  "We  praise 
Thee,  we  bless  Thee,  we  give  thanks  to  Thee,  and 
pray  Thee,  Lord  our  God. 

"Again  we  offer  Thee  this  reasonable,  this  blood- 
less sacrifice  and  we  beseech  Thee  and  pray  and 
entreat  that  Thou  wouldst  send  Thy  Holy  Spirit 
upon  us  and  upon  these  gifts  lying  before  Thee. 

"Bless,  Master,  the  holy  Bread. 

"And  make  this  bread  the  precious  Body  of 
Thy  Christ. 

"Amen. 


134  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

"And  this  Cup,  the  Precious  Blood  of  Thy 
Christ,  changing  them  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  that 
they  may  be  to  those  who  partake  of  them  for 
soberness  of  mind,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  for 
the  communication  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  ful- 
filment of  Thy  heavenly  kingdom,  for  confidence 
in  Thee  and  not  for  judgment.  Moreover,  we  offer 
Thee  this  our  reasonable  service  on  behalf  of  those 
who  are  departed  hence  in  the  faith,  our  fore- 
fathers, fathers,  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles, 
preachers,  evangelists,  martyrs,  confessors,  chaste 
persons  and  for  every  righteous  spirit  perfected  in 
the  faith.  Especially  our  most  holy,  undefiled, 
most  blessed  glorious  lady,  the  bringer-f orth  of  God 
the  Ever- Virgin  Mary.  Amen." 

The  conformity  of  our  own  Liturgy  with  this 
most  ancient  one  is  obvious.  It  is  noticeable  that 
the  Eastern  Church  not  only  asks  the  prayers  of 
the  Ever-Blessed  Virgin,  but  prays  for  her.  One 
of  the  most  beautiful  portions  of  their  Liturgy  is 
the  great  entrance  when  the  elements  are  brought 
in,  at  what  we  would  call  the  Offertory,  when  the 
Cherubic  Hymn  is  sung: 

"Let  all  mortal  flesh  keep  silence ;  Let  us  that 
are  mystically  representing  the  Cherubim,  and  sing- 


AN    ICONOSTASIS. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.          135 

ing  to  the  life-giving  Trinity  the  Tri-Sagial  hymn, 
put  away  all  the  cares  of  this  life :  Since  the  King 
of  all,  invisibly  escorted  by  the  Angelic  orders,  we 
are  about  to  receive.  Alleluia,  Alleluia,  Alleluia." 

This  might  on  special  occasions  be  fittingly  in- 
troduced, with  its  music,  into  our  service  as  an 
offertory  anthem. 

The  Liturgy  of  the  Eastern  Churches  is  the 
most  dignified,  solemn,  and  devotional  of  any ;  and 
it  is  offered  on  every  Sunday  and  holy  day.  Un- 
like the  Roman  Church,  the  Eastern  Churches  have 
no  abbreviated  service  or  Low  Mass ;  and  in  fulfil- 
ment, as  they  believe,  of  the  teaching  in  Malachi, 
"that  in  every  place  incense  shall  be  offered  unto 
My  name,  and  a  pure  offering,"  they  never  cele- 
brate without  incense.  They  regard  the  abbre- 
viated Western  low  celebration,  with  its  absence  of 
incense,  as  slovenly,  undignified,  and  Romish. 

As  an  independent  witness  of  the  ancient  faith 
and  worship  and  true  Gospel  teaching,  their  agree- 
ment with  us,  both  as  against  Protestant  negations 
and  papal  additions,  is  most  valuable. 

THEIR  DOCTKINE. 
In  the  reply  made  from  Constantinople  to  the 


136  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

late  papal  encyclical  inviting  them  to  union,  the 
Patriarch,  with  his  Bishops,  said  that  the  union 
of  the  separated  Churches  in  one  rule  of  faith  is  a 
sacred  and  inward  desire  of  the  Holy  Catholic 
Orthodox  and  Apostolic  Church.  Their  weighty 
words  are  worth  considering.  They  said : 

"The  Eastern  Church  is  willing  to  accept 
heartily  all  that  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Churches  unanimously  professed  before  the 
ninth  century.  If  the  Westerns  prove  from  the 
Holy  Fathers  and  the  divinely  assembled  ecu- 
menical councils  that  the  Eoman  Church  ever 
before  the  ninth  century  read  into  the  Creed 
the  addition  of  the  filioque,  or  accepted  the  doc- 
trine of  purgatorial  fires,  or  sprinkling  in  bap- 
tism instead  of  immersion,  or  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Ever  Virgin,  or  the  temporal 
power,  or  the  infallibility  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  we  have  no  more  to  say.  But  if,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  plainly  demonstrated  that  the 
Eastern  and  Orthodox  Catholic  Church  of 
Christ  holds  fast  the  anciently  transmitted  doc- 
trines which  at  that  time  were  professed  in 
common  both  by  the  East  and  West,  and  that 
the  Western  Church  perverted  them  by  divers 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         137 

innovations,  then  it  is  clear  that  the  way  to 
union  is  by  the  return  of  the  Western  Church 
to  the  ancient  doctrinal  and  administrative  con- 
dition of  things." 

The  Eastern  Church,  therefore,  holds,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father,  and  not 
also  from  the  Son,  as  has  been  arbitrarily  promul- 
gated by  the  Western  Church.  She  asserts  that  the 
ancient  practice  of  baptism  was  by  way  of  three 
immersions ;  that  the  .  divine  Eucharist  was  cele- 
brated for  more  than  a  thousand  years  with  leav- 
ened bread;  that  following  the  divine  command, 
"Drink  ye  all  of  it,"  the  Holy  Catholic  Church 
had  ever  given  the  holy  chalice  to  the  laity;  that 
the  Apostolic  Church,  walking  according  to  the 
divinely  inspired  interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  Apostolic  tradition,  prayed  and  invoked 
the  mercy  of  God  for  those  who  had  fallen  asleep 
in  the  Lord,  but  the  papal  Church  from  the  twelfth 
century  downward  has  invented  a  multitude  of  in- 
novations concerning  purgatorial  fires,  and  a  treas- 
ury of  merits  derived  from  superabundance  of  vir- 
tues of  the  saints,  and  the  distribution  of  them 
by  the  Pope  to  those  who  need  them. 


138  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

The  only  holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church 
of  the  seven  ecumenical  councils  teaches  that  the 
supernatural  Incarnation  of  the  only-begotten  Son 
and  Word  of  God,  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  is  alone  pure  and  immaculate;  but  the 
papal  Church  scarcely  forty  years  ago  again  made 
an  innovation  by  laying  down  a  novel  dogma  con- 
cerning the  immaculate  conception  of  the  Mother 
of  God  and  ever- Virgin  Mary,  which  was  unknown 
to  the  ancient  Church,  and  strongly  opposed  at  dif- 
ferent times,  even  by  the  more  distinguished  among 
the  papal  theologians. 

The  Pope  in  his  encyclical,  represents  the  ques- 
tion of  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  as  the 
principal  and,  so  to  speak,  only  cause  of  the  dis- 
sension, and  sends  us  to  the  sources,  that  we  may 
make  diligent  search  as  to  what  our  forefathers  be- 
lieved, and  what  the  first  age  of  Christianity  deliv- 
ered to  us.  Having  recourse  to  the  Fathers  and 
ecumenical  councils  of  the  Church  of  the  first  nine 
centuries,  we  are  fully  persuaded  that  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  was  never  considered  as  the  supreme  au- 
thority and  infallible  head  of  the  Church,  and  that 
every  Bishop  is  head  and  president  of  his  own 
particular  Church,  subject  only  to  the  synodical 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         139 

ordinances  and  decisions  of  the  Church  universal 
as  being  alone  infallible,  the  Bishop  of  Home  being 
in  no  wise  excepted  from  this  rule,  as  Church  his- 
tory shows. 

Moreover,  the  papists  themselves  know  well 
that  the  very  passage  of  the  Gospel  to  which  the 
pontiff  of  Kome  refers,  "Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church,"  is,  in  the  first 
centuries  of  the  Church,  interpreted  quite  differ- 
ently, in  a  spirit  of  orthodoxy,  both  by  tradition 
and  by  all  the  divine  and  sacred  Fathers  without 
exception;  the  fundamental  and  unshaken  rock 
upon  which  the  Lord  has  built  His  own  Church, 
against  which  the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail, 
being  understood  of  Peter's  true  confession  con- 
cerning the  Lord,  that  "He  is  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God."  Upon  this  confession  and  faith 
the  saving  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  all  the  apos- 
tles and  their  successors  rests  unshaken.  Such, 
then,  being  the  divinely  inspired  teaching  of  the 
Apostles  respecting  the  foundation  and  Prince  of 
the  Church  of  God,  of  course  the  sacred  Fathers, 
who  held  firmly  to  the  Apostolic  traditions,  could 
not  have  or  conceive  any  idea  of  an  absolute  pri- 
macy of  the  Apostle  Peter  and  the  Bishops  of 


140  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Rome;  nor  could  they  give  any  other  interpreta- 
tion, totally  unknown  to  the  Church,  to  that  pas- 
sage of  the  Gospel,  but  that  which  was  true  and 
right. 

The  divine  Fathers,  honouring  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  only  as  the  Bishop  of  the  capital  city  of  the 
empire,  gave  him  the  honourary  prerogative  of 
presidency,  considering  him  simply  as  the  Bishop 
first  in  order,  that  is,  among  equals;  which  pre- 
rogative they  also  assigned  afterwards  to  the 
Bishop  of  Constantinople,  when  that  city  became 
the  capital  of  the  Roman  empire,  as  the  twenty- 
eighth  canon  of  the  fourth  ecumenical  council  at 
Chalcedon  bears  witness,  saying,  among  other 
things,  as  follows: 

"We  do  also  determine  and  decree  the  same 
things  respecting  the  prerogatives  of  the  most 
holy  Church  of  the  said  Constantinople,  which 
is  New  Rome.  For  the  Fathers  have  rightly 
given  the  prerogative  to  the  throne  of  the  elder 
Rome,  because  that  was  the  imperial  city.  And 
the  hundred  and  fifty  most  religious  Bishops, 
moved  by  the  same  consideration,  assigned  an 
equal  prerogative  to  the  most  holy  throne  of 
New  Rome." 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         141 

From  this  canon  it  is  very  evident  that  the 
Bishop  of  Kome  is  equal  in  honour  to  the  Bishop 
of  the  Church  of  Constantinople  and  to  those  of 
other  Churches,  and  there  is  no  hint  given  in 
any  canon  or  by  any  of  the  Fathers  that  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  alone  has  ever  been  prince  of 
the  universal  Church,  and  the  infallible  judge  of 
the  Bishops  of  the  other  independent  and  self- 
governing  Churches,  or  the  successor  of  the 
Apostle  Peter  and  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  on 
earth. 

Each  particular  self-governing  Church,  both 
in  the  East  and  West,  was  totally  independent 
and  self -administered  in  the  times  of  the  seven 
ecumenical  councils.  And  just  as  the  Bishops 
of  the  self-governing  Churches  of  the  East,  so 
also  those  of  Africa,  Spain,  Gaul,  Germany,  and 
Britain,  managed  the  affairs  of  their  own 
churches,  each  by  their  local  synods,  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  having  no  right  to  interfere,  and  he 
himself  also  was  equally  subject  and  obedient  to 
the  decrees  of  synods.  On  important  questions 
which  needed  the  sanction  of  the  universal 
Church,  an  appeal  was  made  to  an  ecumenical 
council,  which  alone  was  and  is  the  supreme 


142  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tribunal  in  the  universal  Church.    Such  was  the 
ancient  constitution  of  the  Church. 

"During  the  nine  centuries  of  the  Ecumeni- 
cal Councils  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church  never 
recognized  the  excessive  claims  of  primacy  on 
the  part  of  the  Bishops  of  Home,  nor  conse- 
quently did  she  ever  submit  herself  to  them,  as 
Church  history  plainly  bears  witness." 

"The  Orthodox  Eastern  and  Catholic  Church 
of  Christ,  with  the  exception  of  the  Son  and 
Word  of  God,  who  was  ineffably  made  man, 
knows  no  one  that  was  infallible  upon  earth. 
Even  the  Apostle  Peter  himself,  whose  successor 
the  Pope  thinks  himself  to  be,  thrice  denied  the 
Lord,  and  was  twice  rebuked  by  the  Apostle 
Paul  as  not  walking  uprightly  according  to  the 
truth  of  the  Gospel.  Afterwards  the  Pope 
Liberius,  in  the  fourth  century,  subscribed  an 
Arian  confession;  and  likewise  Zosimus,  in  the 
fifth  century,  approved  an  heretical  confession, 
denying  original  sin.  Vigilius,  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, was  condemned  for  wrong  opinions  by  the 
fifth  council;  and  Honorius,  having  fallen  into 
the  Monothelite  heresy,  was  condemned  in  the 
seventh  century  by  the  sixth  Ecumenical  Coun- 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         143 

cil  as  a  heretic,  and  the  Popes  who  succeeded 
him  acknowledged  and  accepted  his  condemna- 
tion. 

"In  vain,  therefore,  does  the  Bishop  of  Eome 
send  us  to  the  sources  that  we  may  seek  dili- 
gently for  what  our  forefathers  believed,  and 
what  the  first  period  of  Christianity  delivered 
to  us.  In  these  sources  we,  the  Orthodox,  find 
the  old  and  divinely  transmitted  doctrines,  to 
which  we  carefully  hold  fast  at  the  present  time, 
and  nowhere  do  we  find  the  innovations  which 
later  time  brought  forth  in  the  West,  and  which 
the  papal  Church,  having  adopted,  retains  till 
this  very  day.  The  Orthodox  Eastern  Church 
then  justly  glories  in  Christ,  as  being  the  Church 
of  the  seven  Ecumenical  Councils  and  the  first 
nine  centuries  of  Christianity,  and  therefore  the 
one  holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic  Church  of 
Christ,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth;  but 
the  present  Roman  Church  is  the  Church  of  in- 
novations, of  the  falsification  of  the  writings  of 
the  Church  Fathers,  and  of  the  decrees  of  the 
holy  councils,  for  which  she  has  reasonably  and 
justly  been  disowned,  and  is  still  disowned." 

The  above  letter  was  signed  by  the  Patriarch 


144  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

of  Constantinople,  along  with  his  comprovincials. 
There  are  thus  eight  points  of  difference  between 
the  Holy  Orthodox  and  Apostolic  Church  of  the 
East,  and  Rome.  With  four  of  these,  we  Angli- 
cans are  at  one  with  the  East.  We  give  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  in  both  kinds,  condemning  Rome's  de- 
nying the  Cup  to  the  laity.  We  deny  the  doctrine 
of  a  purgatory  of  penal  fire,  where  the  faithful 
must  suffer  to  satisfy  the  divine  justice,  and  from 
which  they  can  be  relieved  by  purchased  or  gained 
indulgences. 

We  agree  with  the  East  in  refusing  to  accept 
the  Roman  doctrine  of  the  immaculate  conception 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  We  reject  the  Roman 
doctrine  of  papal  infallibility,  and  the  Pope's  claim 
to  be  the  absolute  monarchical  head  of  the  whole 
Church  Militant,  endowed  with  all  executive,  legis- 
lative, and  judicial  powers.  On  two  points  the  An- 
glican Church  takes  a  middle  ground:  she  allows 
the  use  of  both  leavened  and  unleavened  bread ;  and 
she  provides  for  immersion  in  baptism,  but  allows 
not  sprinkling,  but  "pouring."  The  American 
Church  distinctly  invokes  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the 
Elements. 

The    real    difference    between    Anglican    and 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.          145 

Eastern  Churches  lies  in  the  use  of  the  "Filioque" 
clause,  which  we  inherited  from  Home.  The  reci- 
tation, as  it  was  not  in  the  original  Creed,  we 
might,  for  the  sake  of  intercommunion,  explain 
or  omit.  It  would  not  hinder  our  future  union 
with  Kome,  if  that  should  be  ever  desirable,  for, 
united  to  the  East,  Kome  would  accept  us,  as  she 
has  the  uniat  Churches,  wherein  the  omission  has 
been  allowed.  It  would  be  a  great  aid  to  the  cause 
of  Christianity  if,  by  the  recognition  of  each 
other's  Catholicity,  intercommunion  might  be 
brought  about  between  the  Anglican  and  Eastern- 
Orthodox  Churches.  It  is  a  happy  sign  that 
Bishop  Kaphael,  head  of  the  Orthodox  Syrian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  has  given  permission 
to  his  own  people,  where  no  priest  of  their  own  is 
present,  to  be  baptized,  and  the  marriage  service 
performed,  by  an  Anglican  priest,  and  the  Holy 
Communion  received,  under  certain  circumstances, 
at  his  hands.  Kozlowski,  the  late  Old  Catholic 
Bishop,  announced  his  willingness  to  take  part  in 
the  consecration  of  an  American  Bishop  of  our 
Church.  Prelates  of  both  Churches  have  ex- 
changed courtesies,  recognizing  each  other's  orders. 
But  before  any  official  action  can  be  taken,  there 


146  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

must  be  a  more  general  desire  on  our  part,  officially 
expressed.  Very  different  is  the  attitude  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  from  that  of  the  Eastern  Church- 
es towards  us.  Rome  imperiously  demands  an  ab- 
solute submission  to  her  papal  claims  and  modern 
doctrines.  This  is  on  our  part  an  impossibility,  as 
it  would  be  disloyalty  to  Christ.  The  East  asks 
only  if  we  hold  the  same  faith.  Can  we  not,  ought 
we  not,  to  lay  aside  our  inherited  prepossessions, 
and  respond  to  the  cry  for  union  which  comes  from 
the  heart  of  our  Lord  ? 

We  Anglicans  ought  all  to  seek  and  pray  for  a 
united  Christendom,  for  its  divisions  so  greatly 
hinder  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  conversion 
of  the  world.  Two  conditions  are  necessary  before 
it  can  be  accomplished.  Our  sectarian  brethren 
must  get  a  fuller  grasp  of  the  Incarnation,  and  re- 
cover their  lost  sense  of  the  need  of  the  Priesthood.5 
Their  ministers  are  preachers,  who  disclaim  the 
idea  of  their  being  priests.  It  cannot  then  be  called 
illiberal  in  us  to  deny  to  them  that  which  they 
repudiate  for  themselves.  But  priesthood  is  an 
essential  element  in  Christianity.  When  sectarian 
clergy  discover  their  loss,  they  will  be  desirous  of 

8  See  Ch.  1,  p.  5. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         147 

Episcopal  ordination.  The  other  condition  is  that 
which  relates  to  Home.  The  Koman  Bishops  must 
seek  for  and  recover  their  full  Episcopal  powers, 
now  taken  away  by  the  Pope.  When  they  have 
recovered  them,  the  papacy  falls,  and  the  way  to 
reunion  is  opened.  If  mutual  recognition  is  ever 
brought  about,  it  will  be  through  Anglicans,  the 
Old  Catholics,  and  the  Eastern  Churches.  There- 
fore the  fraternal  spirit  of  the  latter  should  be 
lovingly  responded  to.  While  Rome  demands  an 
absolute  submission  to  its  monarchical  claims  and 
modern  doctrines,  the  East  only  asks,  "Do  we  hold 
the  same  ancient  faith? — if  so,  we  are  brethren." 

BOOKS  REFERRED  TO  IN  CHAPTER  V. 

Mother  of  All  Churches.    J.  G.  Cole. 

Eastern  Church  Association  Papers. 

L'eglise  Latine  et  le  Protestantisme.     Khomiakoff. 

Teaching  of  the  Russian  Church.    Headlam. 

Greek  Manual  of  Doctrine.    H.  T.  F.  Duckworth. 

Russian  Orthodox  Missions.    E.  Smirnoff. 

Catechism  of  the  Orthodox  Church.     Tikhon. 

Doctrine  of  the  Russian  Church.    R.  W.  Blackmore. 

Anglican  and  Eastern  Doctrine.    Rev.  C.  F.  Hale. 

Comper's  Handbook  of  Liturgies. 

Liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  and  St.  Basil.     Robertson. 

Service  Book  of  Greco-Russian  Church.    Hapgood. 

Answer  of  the  Great  Church  of  Constantinople  to  the  Papal 

Encyclical. 
Student's  History  of  the  Greek  Church.    A.  H.  Hore. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  RISE  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
THE  PAPACY. 

THE  MODERN  claims  of  the  papacy  are  some- 
thing tremendous.  Christ,  it  is  said,  "founded  a 
visible  Church,  neither  as  an  aristocracy,  nor  as  a 
federation,  but  as  an  absolute  monarchy."  We 
quote  from  an  accredited  Roman  Catholic  author- 
ity.1 The  head  of  the  Church,  or  the  Pope,  pos- 
sesses the  plentitude  of  power,  including  all  legis- 
lative, judicial,  and  coercive  authority;  as  su- 
preme pontiff,  he  is  able  to  make  universal  law, 
and  to  bind  the  universal  Church  by  himself 
alone.  He  is  not  subject  to  any,  even  a  General 
Council.  All  judicial  power  rests  with  him. 
From  his  judgment  there  can  be  no  appeal.  He 
is  also  possessed  of  coercive  power.  The  pontiff's 


1  Humphrey,  S.  J.,  Urt>a  et  Orbte. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         149 

power  in  this  respect  is  independent  of  every  other 
on  earth.  He  has,  moreover,  supreme  liturgical 
power.  He  can  alter  the  liturgy  at  his  pleasure, 
or  add  to  it  new  devotions.  His  Episcopal  power 
makes  him  bishop  of  the  whole  world.  He  has  the 
sole  right  of  appointing  Bishops,  and  of  removing 
them  at  his  will.  The  jurisdiction  of  any  Bishop 
may  be  validly  withdrawn  by  him,  without  any 
showing  of  adequate  cause  or  giving  of  any  valid 
reason.  He  is,  in  other  words,  the  absolute  mon- 
arch of  the  Church ;  and  all  authority  of  all  kinds 
is  in  him.  This  position  he  claims  as  of  divine 
right,  as  given  by  Christ  to  Peter;  and  through 
St.  Peter's  Episcopate  at  Rome,  he  claims,  it  be- 
came the  endowment  of  Peter's  successor. 

The  modern  papal  teaching  respecting  the 
papacy  is  that  our  Lord  first  became  visibly  pres- 
ent on  earth  by  His  Incarnation.  Secondly,  by 
His  invisible  Presence  in  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
wherein  He  is  silent  but  effective.  Thirdly,  in 
the  person  of  the  Pope  at  the  Vatican,  where  He 
is  vocal.  "The  Sovereign  Pontiff,"  says  Faber,  "is 
the  third  Visible  Presence  of  Jesus  Christ  among 
us."' 


Faber,  ATo*e*,  etc.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  338, 


150  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

In  an  official  document  printed  by  license  of 
Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  we  find  the  following,  the 
interpretation  being  given  by  a  Jesuit  father :  "To 
deny  that  our  Lord  God  the  Pope  has  power  to 
decree  as  he  has  decreed,  would  be  deemed  hereti- 
cal." Again  it  is  stated  concerning  the  Pope, 
"whom  we  regard  as  God,  and  whom  we  ought  to 
listen  to  as  though  we  heard  God  speaking."  "All 
the  Pope's  acts  must  be  considered  as  God's  acts." 
"The  Pope  can  do  all  things  God  can  do." '  At 
the  Later  an  Council,  1512,  the  Pope  was  said  to 
be  "a  second  God  upon  earth."  fl  After  this,  we 
think  our  readers  will  be  inclined  to  quote  II. 
Thess.  ii.  4. 

The  Scriptural  warrant  for  these  tremendous 
prerogatives  is  very  slender.  The  three  texts  cited 
in  support  of  it  are  first,  that  of  St.  John  xxi.  15 
and  17,  where  our  Lord  bade  St.  Peter  "shepherd 
the  sheep  and  feed  the  lambs."  The  obvious  mean- 
ing here  is  that  St.  Peter,  as  representative  of  the 
Old  Dispensation,  and  the  leader  among  the  Apos- 
tles, was  to  lead  the  sheep  belonging  to  the  old 


8  Guardian,  Dec.  30,  1910,  p.  1843. 
*Mu88us  Episc.  Bit.  Comment,  c.  14,  fol.  606. 
6  Decius,  Comment  in  jus  pontiflc,  Lee.  II. 
•  The  Reformation,  Whltmey,  p.  21. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         151 

Jewish  order  and  the  Gentile  lambs  into  the  Chris- 
tian fold.  This  is  what  he  did.  At  Pentecost  he 
brought  in  the  Jewish  converts,  and,  subsequently, 
in  the  ministration  to  the  Roman  Centurion  Cor- 
nelius, the  lambs,  or  first  fruits  of  the  Gentiles. 
But  the  command  of  the  Lord  gave  him  no  author- 
ity over  other  shepherds. 

It  was  clearly  not  only  not  given,  but  actually 
forbidden;  for  when  St.  Peter  said  respecting  St. 
John,  "But  what  shall  this  man  do?"  our  Lord 
said,  "What  is  that  to  thee  ?"  or  in  plain  English, 
"That  is  not  your  business."  The  second  text  that 
the  Romans  rest  on  is  that  of  St.  Luke  xxii.  "I 
have  prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not."  We 
must  believe  that  our  Lord's  prayer  was  answered ; 
and  the  way  in  which  it  was  answered  shows  what 
He  prayed  for.  He  did  not  pray  that  St.  Peter 
should  be  possessed  of  any  infallible  gift,  or  that 
he  should  not  deny  the  faith,  for  he  did  so.  When 
Peter  said,  "I  know  not  the  man''  He  denied  what 
he  had  previously  confessed,  i.e.,  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  Son  of  God.  What  our  Lord  prayed  for 
was  that,  though  he  should  deny  the  Faith,  never- 
theless he  might  not  lose  his  faith  in  Christ,  and 
fall  away  from  Him.  Our  Lord  prayed  that  Peter 


152  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

should  hold  on  to  his  faith  in  Christ.  He  did  this, 
and  repenting,  and  being  forgiven,  he  was  able  to 
strengthen  the  faith  of  his  brethren  who  had  not 
fallen  away  as  deeply  as  he  had.  "The  applica- 
tion of  this  text  to  the  papal  claims  is,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Robertson,7  "a  very  late  after-thought.  I 
know,"  he  says,  aof  no  such  use  of  it  earlier  than 
the  year  681." 

Again,  let  us  take  the  third  text  which  Romans 
cite  in  support  of  the  claims  of  the  Papacy.  Our 
Lord  did  not  say,  "Thou  art  Peter,  the  Rock  on 
which  I  will  build  My  Church."  But  on  this 
Rock,  this  very  Rock,  I  will  build  it.  Now  the 
word  "Rock"  as  used  in  the  Old  Testament  signi- 
fies God.  It  is  reserved  to  the  Almighty.  Thus 
it  is  written,  "Who  is  a  Rock,  save  our  God?" 
"God  only  is  my  Rock."  "Is  there  a  God  beside 
Me?  Yea,  there  is  no  Rock,  I  know  not  any." 
"Their  rock,"  i.e.,  the  heathen's  god,  "is  not  as  our 
Rock."  Thus  to  the  mind  of  the  Apostles,  the 
term  Rock  would  refer  to  God.8  Therefore  when 
Peter  had  confessed  Christ  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
and  our  Lord  had  said,  "On  this  Rock  I  will  build 


7  Robertson's  Roman  Claims,  Ch.  His.  Soc.,  xili. 

8  Wordsworth,  Com.,  S.  Matt.  xvi. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         153 

My  Church/'  the  Apostles  would  naturally  under- 
stand Christ  as  referring  to  Himself. 

Most  of  the  Fathers,  when  explicitly  interpret- 
ing this  text,  say  that  the  Rock  is  Christ,  or  the 
confession  of  His  divinity.  Some  few  refer  it  to 
Peter,  but  none  see  in  it  a  gift  or  office  bestowed 
on  him,  which  he  was  to  transmit  to  a  successor. 
Launoii,  a  learned  Roman  Catholic  writer,  analyz- 
ing the  statements  of  seventy  Fathers,  cites  forty- 
four  signifying  that  the  Church  was  founded  on 
the  Apostles;  sixteen  said  the  Rock  was  Christ; 
seventeen  that  it  meant  Peter,  but  none  of  the 
latter  assigned  to  Peter  an  office  which  was  to  be 
passed  on  to  another.9  The  true  position  of  St. 
Peter  is  brought  out  fully  in  the  book,  Christian 
and  Catholic,  by  the  author  of  this  work.  It  may 
be  sufficient  here  to  quote  the  words  written  by 
the  late  learned  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of 
St.  Louis,  Dr.  Kenrick,  who  in  a  speech  which 
was  to  have  been  delivered  before  the  Vatican 
Council  said  that  the  text  in  St.  Matthew,  as  in- 
terpreted by  the  Fathers,  did  not  bear  out  the 
Roman  contention.  "If  we  are  bound,"  he  said, 
"to  follow  the  majority  of  the  Fathers  in  this 


'Launoii,  Vol.  X.,  103,  106. 


154  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

thing,  then  we  are  bound  to  hold  for  certain  that 
by,  the  'Rock'  should  be  understood  the  Faith  pro- 
fessed by  St.  Peter,  not  Peter  professing  the 
Faith/'  * 

Again:  the  Apostles  must  have  understood 
Christ's  words  correctly,  seeing  they  received  "the 
Holy  Ghost  to  lead  them  into  all  truth."  Now 
there  is  one  sure  test  to  show  in  what  way  the 
Apostles  understood  Christ's  words.  There  is  no 
evidence  in  Holy  Scripture  that  the  Apostles  un- 
derstood Christ's  words  as  giving  to  St.  Peter  any 
authority  or  jurisdiction  over  themselves.  The 
Lord  expressly  forbade  any  such  exercise  of  au- 
thority of  one  over  the  others,  and  said,  "It  shall 
not  be  so  among  you."  He  placed  all  the  Apostles 
on  an  equality,  as  sitting  alike  on  twelve  thrones; 
each  was  to  be  like  the  other,  one  of  the  twelve 
foundations.  Cardinal  Newman  said  "of  the  first 
twelve  Apostles  not  one  was  possessed  of  universal 
jurisdiction."  Christ  was  the  chief  cornerstone,  in 
whom  the  whole  building  was  to  be  joined  in  unity. 
The  twelve,  all  alike,  were  the  foundations  united 
to,  or  laid  on,  Him.  Christ  was  also,  as  He  de- 
clared, "the  Vine";  and  the  Apostles,  including 
Peter,  were  only  branches.  Peter  was  first,  the 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         155 

leader  of  the  original  twelve,  the  foundation  layer 
of  the  Church,  the  bringer  in  of  the  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, but  the  idea  of  any  supremacy  of  St.  Peter 
over  the  other  Apostles  finds  no  foundation  in 
Holy  Scripture. 

Nor  is  there  any  explicit  mention  in  the  New 
Testament  that  St.  Peter  was  ever  at  Rome;  or 
that  as  Bishop  of  Rome  he  conveyed  any  special 
privilege  to  a  successor.  Now  the  right  to  convey 
to  another  a  "privilege"  must  be  explicitly  stated 
in  the  original  grant,  and  its  conveyance  proved  by 
explicit  testimony.  Peter's  right  to  convey  to  an- 
other his  special  office  finds  no  warrant  in  Holy 
Scripture,  nor  his  doing  so  any  proof  in  history. 
The  lack  of  sure  testimony  in  Scripture  makes  it 
clear  that  no  doctrinal  importance  can  be  con- 
nected with  Peter's  being  at  Rome.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  think  that  God  would  have  made  our  sal- 
vation dependent  upon  our  being  under  the  juris- 
diction of  Rome,  and  not  have  certified  us  in  Holy 
Scripture  of  the  fact  of  Peter's  holding  the  Epis- 
copal office  there.  Every  historical  fact  on  which 
Christianity  is  based  and  found  in  the  Creed  is 
recorded  in  Holy  Scripture.  If  St.  Peter's  being 
at  Rome  is  one  of  these  essential  matters,  it  should 


150  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

in  like  manner  be  found  there,  otherwise  it  is  ob- 
viously to  be  held  not  essential,  and  no  doctrine 
can  be  based  upon  it. 

Again :  not  only  does  Holy  Scripture  not  place 
Peter  over  the  other  Apostles,  but  there  are  many 
texts  in  the  New  Testament,  in  the  Acts  and  the 
Epistles,  that  show  that  all  the  Apostles  were  of 
equal  authority.  Bartoli,  who  after  many  years 
of  service  in  the  Jesuit  order  has  lately  left  the 
Church  of  Rome,  cites  some  forty  texts  to  this 
effect.10  A  full  list  can  also  be  found  in  Brinck- 
man's  Notes  on  Papal  Claims.  "The  New  Testa- 
ment does  not  give  us,"  says  Professor  Robertson, 
"the  slightest  hint  that  the  Apostolic  Church  be- 
queathed the  Papacy  to  the  succeeding  age,  not  a 
hint  that  the  words,  'Thou  art  Peter/  fixed  the 
Constitution  of  the  Church  of  Christ  as  a  mon- 
archy under  a  visible  Head." 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  PAPACY. 

How  then  can  we  account  for  the  rise  and  de- 
velopment of  the  papal  power  ?  Some  Roman  dis- 
putants or  apologists  have  contended  that,  though 
the  papacy  cannot  be  proved  from  Holy  Scripture, 


10  Prim.  Ch.,  G.  Bartoli,  66-67. 

11  Rom.  Claims  to  Supremacy,  Robertson,  p.  210. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         157 

nevertheless  it  is  the  tradition  of  the  Church.  This 
argument,  however,  breaks  down  in  face  of  the  fact 
that  such  is  not  the  tradition  of  the  whole  Church. 
It  is  only  the  tradition  in  that  portion  of  Christen- 
dom that  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  papacy. 
The  argument  thus  falls  into  the  fallacy  of  a 
logical  circle,  viz.,  Rome  is  right,  because  she  says 
she  is  right.  The  modern  Roman  defence  again 
has  sought  to  account  for  it  on  the  theory  of  de- 
velopment. The  most  clever  defender,  or  perhaps 
author,  of  that  explanation  was  Cardinal  Newman. 
We  may  grant  that  there  was  a  progressive  order 
in  the  development  of  the  papacy.  But  the  order 
of  progress  does  not  declare  the  legitimacy  of  the 
progress.  We  all  may  grant  that  the  papacy  has 
come  about  by  development,  but  the  question  re- 
mains whether  it  was  a  development  under  the 
inspiration  and  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or 
whether  it  had  a  worldly  motive  as  its  determining 
principle.  While  we  may  admit  that  God  can 
overrule  the  wrong-doings  of  men  to  His  own  pur- 
poses, yet  that  does  not  condone  the  wickedness  of 
their  actions  nor  put  a  seal  of  approval  upon 
them.  Now  the  development  of  the  papacy  has 
come  about  through  the  evil  principle  in  man  of 


158  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  love  of  power.  Just  as  has  been  told  us,  the 
love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  the  love  of 
power  is  the  most  disastrous  of  all  the  evil  influ- 
ences that  affect  man.  It  was  the  sin  in  Satan  that 
led  to  the  fall  of  the  angels.  It  has  been  the  ruin 
of  kings  and  statesmen.  It  existed  in  the  Apos- 
tolic College  itself.  The  Apostles  disputed  among 
themselves  "who  should  be  the  greatest."  This 
spirit  thus  early  manifested  brought  forth  the 
severe  rebukes  and  warning  of  our  Lord. 

It  was  not,  however,  exterminated.  It  led 
Rome  first  to  a  spirit  of  boasting  and  self-asser- 
tion. Very  different,  we  may  see,  is  the  tone  of 
St.  Clement,  of  the  sub-apostolic  age,  in  his  letter 
to  the  Church  at  Corinth,  and  that  of  Pope  Victor 
(189-199),  writing  to  the  Bishops  of  Asia.  Clem- 
ent does  not  even  mention  himself.  He  makes  no 
attempt  on  his  part  to  speak  as  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter;  but  Victor's  threat  to  excommunicate 
all  those  who  did  not  agree  with  him  about  the 
time  of  keeping  Easter  is  in  the  spirit  of  self- 
assertive  arrogance.  That  was  the  beginning  of 
the  bad  power-loving  spirit.  It  rightly  brought 
forth  from  St.  Irenseus  the  characterization  of  the 
Pope's  conduct  as  "petulant  intolerance." 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         159 

It  was  also  condemned  subsequently  by  Pope 
Gregory  the  Great,  who  said:  "No  one  of  my 
predecessors  ever  consented  to  use  so  profane  a 
term  as  'Universal  Bishop/  because,  plainly,  if  a 
simple  patriarch  is  called  'universal/  the  name  of 
patriarch  is  taken  from  the  rest.  Wherefore  let 
your  Holiness  in  your  letters  never  call  any  one 
'universal/  lest,  in  offering  undue  honour  to  an- 
other, you  should  deprive  yourself  of  that  which 
is  your  due.  Whoever  calls  himself,  or  desires  to 
be  called,  an  'universal'  priest,  in  his  pride  goes 
before  Anti-Christ" 

It  was  the  position  of  the  Imperial  City  as  the 
capital  of  the  Empire,  the  wealth  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  the  munificence  of  its  gifts,  its  being  the 
first  Apostolic  See  in  the  West  and  the  first  in 
rank  among  the  five  patriarchates,  that  gave  it  its 
original  preeminence.  The  love  of  power  led  on 
to  the  falsification  of  testimony  on  its  behalf.  This 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  misquotations  made  by  Roman- 
ists. How  often  was  St.  Augustine  quoted  as  say- 
ing, "Rome  has  spoken,  the  case  is  finished."  He 
did  not  say  this.  Two  separate  clauses  are  put 
together,  as  if  they  were  one.  This  is  cited  as  if  St. 
Augustine  laid  it  down  as  a  general  principle. 


160  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

He  was  confining  his  remarks  to  a  particular  case. 
"The  misquotation/7  wrote  Drs.  Bright  and  Lid- 
don,  "is  one  of  the  most  scandalous  in  all  litera- 
ture." Sometimes  Eoman  arguers  cite  the  saying 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  "Where  Peter  is,  there 
is  the  Church."  Ambrose  is  thinking  of  St. 
Peter's  confession  of  the  faith,  and  of  this  con- 
fession of  the  faith  being  the  foundation  of  the 
Church,  and  he  speaks  of  Peter  as  taking  the  "first 
place  in  confession,  not  in  office;  in  faith,  not  in 
order."  A  passage  from  St.  Irenseus  is  often  mis- 
quoted as  saying:  "With  this  Church,  i.e.,  Rome, 
because  of  its  superior  preeminence,  every  Church 
that  is  faithful  everywhere,  must  agree."  But  he 
does  not  say  "must  agree."  His  meaning  is  that 
as  Christians  from  all  quarters  of  the  world  assem- 
ble at  the  Capital  City,  there  the  universal  tradi- 
tion has  been  preserved.12  "One  cannot,"  says  Dr. 
Bright,  "pass  by  two  specimens  of  fiction  con- 
tained in  the  Roman  Breviary.  On  April  26th, 
Roman  clergy  are  still  bound  to  recite  the  lying 
legend  of  the  Council  of  Siunessa,  and  its  declara- 
tion that  the  first  See  could  be  judged  by  no  one, 


»  Puller,  Primitive  Saints,  31,  43.     Bright,  Roman  See,  29, 
36.      Salmon,    Infallibility,    375.      Simpson,    Papal    Infallibility, 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.          161 

and  on  January  16th  there  is  an  extract  from  the 
monstrous  forgery  of  the  Forged  Decretals,  telling 
how  Pope  Marcellus  "proved  to  the  Churches  of 
the  Province  of  Antioch  the  primacy  and  the 
headship  of  the  Church  of  Home."  We  might  go 
on  with  many  other  like  instances.  In  a  book  pub- 
lished in  1875,  and  dedicated  by  special  permis- 
sion to  Pius  IX.,  we  find  the  author,  Vincenzi, 
saying  that  the  Peter  withstood  by  St.  Paul  was 
not  St.  Peter  the  Apostle,  but  some  other  Christian 
of  that  name.13 

This  spirit  of  falsification  is  also  to  be  seen  in 
the  well  known  case  of  its  quoting  the  canons  of 
the  provincial  council  of  Sardica  to  the  African 
Bishops  in  the  case  of  Appiarius,  as  if  they  were 
canons  of  the  ecumenical  council  of  Nice."  On 
reference  to  the  original  copies  preserved  in  the 
East,  the  Church  of  Alexandria  proved  the  falsity 
of  the  Eoman  claim,  and  forbade  appeals  to  Rome 
from  its  decisions. 

Again:  we  find  Rome  backing  up  its  spiritual 
prerogatives  by  the  utterances  of  the  Forged  De- 
cretals, of  which  Janus,  written  by  two  former 


12  Notes  on  Papal  Claims,  Brinckman,  p.  182. 
14  Rise  of  Papal  Power,  Hussey,  p.  49. 


162  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Roman  Catholic  professors,  says:  "It  is  difficult 
to  find  in  all  history  so  huge  and  successful  a 
forgery."  These  decretals  were  eagerly  seized 
upon  by  Pope  Nicholas  I.  in  support  of  the  new 
claims  put  forward  by  himself.  In  the  contest 
with  the  East,  the  Pope  then  in  power  asserted 
that  these  decretals  had  ever  been  retained  in  the 
Roman  archives.  This  was  either  an  uninten- 
tional mistake,  or  else  a  falsification.  As  the  Pope 
could  have  discovered  these  documents  if  they  ex- 
isted, it  looks  like  wilful  error.  The  decretals, 
though  now  acknowledged  by  Rome  to  be  forgeries, 
entered  into  the  canon  law  of  the  Church,  and 
formed  the  basis  on  which  the  modern  claims  of 
the  papacy  rest.  The  claim  that  the  Emperor 
Constantine  made  a  gift  of  a  portion  of  Italy  to 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  which  has  been  often  quoted 
to  uphold  the  temporal  power  of  the  papacy,  has 
likewise  been  proved  a  forgery.  Well  may  we  ask, 
with  a  Roman  Catholic  professor,  Gratry,  "Does 
God  need  man's  lies  to  forward  or  uphold  His 
Kingdom?"  As  time  went  on,  the  papal  thirst 
for  power  showed  itself  in  the  claims  of  Hilde- 
brand  (1073-1085)  and  Innocent  III.  (1198- 


16  Pope  and  Council,  Janus,  99-150. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         163 

1216).  The  Popes  then  claimed  to  be  the  over- 
lords of  all  earthly  rulers,  and  to  have  the  right  to 
absolve  their  subjects  from  all  allegiance  to  their 
sovereigns  when  they  did  not  obey  the  papal  be- 
hests. Thus  Boniface  VIII.  in  1300  appeared  at 
Rome  dressed  in  imperial  habit,  with  two  swords 
borne  before  him  as  emblems  of  his  temporal  as 
well  as  spiritual  dominion  over  all  on  earth." 

The  love  of  power  leads  on  to  persecution,  and 
to  the  claim  of  the  right  to  crush  out  heresy  by 
force.  Thus  the  Pope  excommunicated  kings,  and 
laid  their  lands  under  interdict.  Interdicts 
stopped  all  the  ordinary  exercise  of  religion.  They 
deprived  the  people,  to  the  risk  of  losing  their 
souls,  of  the  Gospel  and  Sacraments  which  Christ 
had  ordained.  It  was  the  big  club  that  the  Pope 
held  over  kings  and  people. 

This  claim  to  depose  sovereigns  is  still  made 
by  Rome.  Cardinal  Allan  in  1882,  in  a  book 
called  Letters  to  the  Brompton  Oratorians,  said, 
"No  monarch  so  manifestly  used  his  authority  for 
the  destruction,  not  the  good,  of  the  commonwealth 
as  a  heretical  prince.  IsTo  one,  therefore,  so  justly 
deserves  to  lose  his  throne  as  he."  "Men  greeted 


18  Brinckman,  Notes  on  Papal  Claims,  213,  216. 


164  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

as  an  act  of  supreme  justice  the  solemn  deposition 
of  an  heretical  king.'7  The  righteousness  of  using 
force  in  suppression  of  heresy  is  still  manifested. 
Pius  IX.  in  his  syllabus  condemned  the  proposi- 
tion that  "the  Church  has  no  right  to  employ 
force."  Leo  XIII.  wrote  a  letter  of  commenda- 
tion to  Professor  Marianus  on  his  work  which 
strongly  upholds  the  right  and  duty  to  coerce,  flog, 
imprison,  burn,  and  kill  its  opponents.  Arch- 
bishop Manning  in  1867,  in  Essays  on  Religion 
and  Literature,  wrote:  "The  right  of  deposing 
kings  is  inherent  in  the  supreme  sovereignty  which 
the  Popes  as  Vicegerents  of  Christ  exercise  over  all 
Christian  nations.  When  for  the  common  good 
the  Head  of  the  Church  exercises  his  supreme  au- 
thority, either  by  excommunicating  individuals, 
by  laying  nations  under  an  interdict,  and  by  de- 
posing kings,  all  Christian  people  are  bound  to 
obey  his  decree."  Lord  Acton,  a  Roman  Catholic 
and  one  of  the  most  able  scholars  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, said,  "A  man  who  thought  it  wrong  to  mur- 
der a  Protestant  king  would  be  left  for  hell  by 
half  the  Confessors  on  the  Continent."  lr 

Further,  the  love  of  power  cannot  but  manifest 

17  Letters  to  Miss  Gladstone,  Lord  Acton,  p.  234. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH.         165 

itself  in  worldliness,  luxury,  and  sensuality,  quali- 
ties which  have  again  and  again  been  the  charac- 
teristic marks  of  the  papal  See.  It  has  led  can- 
didates for  the  papacy  again  and  again  to  buy 
their  way  to  the  papal  throne  by  bribes  and  sim- 
ony. Again,  when  the  Popes  of  Rome  have  been 
not  morally  rotten,  they  have  been,  in  many  in- 
stances, merely  worldly-minded  statesmen.  The 
stories  of  so  many  of  the  early  Popes  having  been 
martyrs  are  legendary  fictions. 

Again,  the  element  of  deceit  has  marked  the 
papacy.  It  has  been  stated  that  all  the  holy  Fa- 
thers, from  Hermas  in  the  first  century,  without 
a  single  exception,  thought  the  Pope  to  be  in- 
fallible in  the  sense  of  the  Vatican  Decree  of 
1870 !  This  statement  is  a  monstrous  falsifica- 
tion. Professor  Zimmer  says,  "The  spirit  of  de- 
liberate falsification  in  the  interests  of  the  Church 
only  appears  in  the  Irish  Church  after  her  union 
with  Rome."  18 

PERSECUTIONS. 

We  come  to  the  rise  of  the  Inquisition.  It  was 
held  by  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  right  to  torture 
and  burn  heretics.  The  tortures  and  sufferings 


18  The  Celtic  Church,  p.  117. 


166  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

inflicted  thus  are  too  painful  to  record."  The 
numbers  may  be  exaggerated,  but  in  1482  two 
thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  been  burned  at 
Seville.20  The  terrible  horrors  of  Smithfield  have 
never  been  forgotten  by  the  English  people.  It  is 
true  there  were  persecutions  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  but  there  were  comparatively  few  vic- 
tims. During  the  short  reign  of  Mary,  three  hun- 
dred persons  were  put  to  death.  There  is,  more- 
over, this  to  be  said:  Protestantism  has  again  and 
again  denounced  the  practice  and  repented  of  it; 
while  among  Romans  to  this  day  there  are  those 
who  uphold  it.  In  this  respect  Rome  has  not 
changed.  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  massacre 
on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day?  To  crush  out  what 
Rome  believed  to  be  heresy,  she  justified  this 
awful  crime.  The  Pope  had  a  medal  struck  off 
to  commemorate  that  wholesale  slaughter. 

ROME'S  DECEITFULNESS. 

To-day,  the  deceit  of  the  Pope's  being  a  pris- 
oner at  the  Vatican  is  imposed  on  the  ignorant  in 
the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
donations  for  his  support.  The  Italian  govern- 


19  Letters  to  His  Holiness,  by  a  Modernist,  25-42. 

20  Letters  to  His  Holiness,  by  a  Modernist,  34. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         167 

ment  offered  to  place  some  $650,000  at  his  dis- 
posal yearly.  He  refused  this  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  been  deposed  from  his  temporal  sover- 
eignty. Yet  it  was  his  Italian  Roman  subjects 
who  deposed  him. 

The  decree  of  a  personal  infallibility  has  con- 
solidated the  papal  monarchical  authority.  May 
we  not  ask  whether  this  papal  development, 
brought  about  by  the  greed  of  power,  is  the  work 
of  God,  or  has  God's  approval  upon  it  ? 

HAS  GOD  BLESSED  THE  PAPACY? 

Contrast  the  two  Churches,  the  Eastern  and 
the  Koman.  While  the  Eastern  Churches  have 
done  a  magnificent  missionary  work  in  Russia  and 
Northern  Asia ;  in  the  West,  the  Pope  has  lost  the 
northern  half  of  Europe  and  England.21  Instead 
of  being  a  source  of  unity,  it  became,  in  the  West, 
a  cause  of  further  division.  The  Hildebrandian 
policy  in  the  papacy  met  an  awful  punishment 
from  God.  For  seventy  years,  from  1309-1379, 
the  seat  of  the  papacy  was  at  Avignon  in  France. 
During  this  time  the  Popes  were  elected  under 
the  supervision  of  the  French  king;  they  main- 


21  Missions,  Russian  Church. 


168  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tained  their  court  by  his  permission;  followed 
meekly  the  policy  he  dictated.  Corruption,  sensu- 
ality, and  luxury  abounded.  No  sooner  was  the 
Captivity,  as  it  has  been  called,  over  in  1377,  than 
the  great  Schism  ensued.  For  about  forty  years 
the  Eoman  Church  was  torn  asunder,  and  nine 
Popes  in  turn  formally  excommunicated  one  an- 
other. Different  nationalities  took  different  sides, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  the  faithful  to  know  who 
the  true  Pope  was. 

CHANGEABLENESS  OF  DOCTRINE. 

We  are  forced  by  Rome's  assertion  that  she 
alone  is  the  Church  to  examine  her  claim  to  be  the 
one  sure  and  safe  guide  in  the  Christian  faith.  It 
is  not  to  be  denied  that,  though  claiming  unchange- 
ableness  in  doctrine,  she  has  changed,  and  that  she 
is  now  found  to  be  asserting  that  to  be  essential 
which,  formerly,  she  declared  not  to  be  so.  In 
the  last  century,  her  Bishops  in  Ireland  formally 
declared  to  the  British  Government,  in  order  to 
obtain  political  privileges,  that  the  infallibility  of 
the  Pope  was  not  an  article  of  their  creed.  In 
the  Keenan  Catechism,  put  forth  in  the  last  cen- 
tury with  Roman  authority,  the  question  is  asked, 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.          169 

"Must  not  Catholics  believe  the  Pope  in  himself 
to  be  infallible  ?"  The  answer  given  is,  "This  is  a 
Protestant  invention,  and  is  no  article  of  the  Cath- 
olic Faith."  In  a  book  of  thirty-five  selections, 
entitled  Roman  Catholic  Principles,  it  is  stated, 
"It  is  no  matter  of  faith  to  believe  that  the  Pope 
is  in  himself  infallible,  separated  from  the 
Church,  even  in  expounding  the  Faith."  In  the 
Middle  Ages,  according  to  the  decrees  of  the  Coun- 
cils of  Pisa  and  Constance,  a  general  Council  was 
held  to  be  superior  to  the  Pope,  and  many  appeals 
were  made  from  papal  decrees  to  general  Councils. 
Now  it  is  declared  that  the  Pope  is  by  himself 
superior  to  a  general  Council,  and  no  appeal  lies 
from  him  to  one.  In  respect  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  Archbishop 
Kenrick  wrote:  "The  Church  never  delivered  it 
as  a  doctrine  of  faith,  and  Popes  have  strictly  for- 
bidden that  the  opposite  opinions  should  be  brand- 
ed with  the  mark  of  heresy." 

ATTITUDE  TOWARDS  SCIENCE. 

And  what  are  we  to  say  concerning  Rome's 
relation  to  science,  and  scientific  discovery?  It 
is  an  historical  fact  that  the  Pope  and  his  inquisi- 


170  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tion  condemned  Galileo  for  holding  that  the  sun 
relatively  stood  still,  and  that  the  earth  had  a 
diurnal  revolution.22  It  has  been  argued  in  reply 
that  the  papacy  may  err  on  matters  of  fact,  but 
not  in  doctrine.  But  the  decision  of  the  court  in 
this  case  was  not  merely  that  Galileo's  doctrine 
was  scientifically  untrue,  but  that  it  contradicted 
Scripture  and  was  theologically  false.  After  a 
full  and  careful  examination  of  the  case,  Professor 
Salmon  thus  concludes:  "Is  it  possible  for  the 
Church  of  Rome  to  err  in  her  interpretation  of 
Scripture,  or  to  mistake  in  what  she  teaches  to  be 
an  essential  part  of  the  Christian  faith?  She 
can  err,  for  she  has  erred.  She  has  made  many 
errors  more  dangerous  to  men's  souls,  but  never 
committed  any  blunder  more  calculated  to  throw 
contempt  on  her  pretensions  in  the  minds  of  all 
thinking  men,  than  when  she  persisted  for  about 
two  hundred  years  in  teaching  that  it  was  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Bible,  and  therefore  an  essential  part 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  that  the  earth  stands  still, 
and  that  the  sun  and  planets  revolve  daily  round 
it." 


"  Salmon,  Infallibility,  230-253. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         171 
PURGATORY  AND  INDULGENCES. 

Home's  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  also  novel 
and  without  patristic  authority,  and  is  repulsive 
to  the  Christian  conscience.  It  is  not  in  agree- 
ment with  that  of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Catholic 
Church.  It  declares  that  the  faithful,  though  for- 
given, must  suffer  hereafter  to  satisfy  the  divine 
justice.  This  does  not  seem  to  be  in  accord  with 
the  Lord's  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  God 
may,  for  remedial  purposes,  allow  the  consequences 
of  forgiven  sin  to  remain,  or  a  punishment  to  fol- 
low as  a  warning  to  others,  when  the  sins  have 
been  of  a  public  character,  like  that  of  David. 
But  has  not  Christ  made  a  full  satisfaction  to 
God's  justice,  and  is  He  not  the  only  One  that 
can  do  so  ?  Here,  however,  we  shall  only  state  the 
nature  of  this  punishment  which,  according  to 
"Rome,  awaits  the  believing  and  penitent  Christian. 
The  Abbe  Louvet,  in  1880,  wrote  a  systematic 
treatise  on  purgatory.  He  thus  described  it :  "At 
the  centre  of  the  earth  is  the  place  of  the  damned ; 
above  it  lies  purgatory,  divided  into  three  regions. 
Above  purgatory  is  the  limbus  infantium,  inhab- 
ited by  unbaptized  infants,  above  that  is  the  lim- 
bus patrum,  now  empty,  formerly  dwelt  in  by  the 


172  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

souls  liberated  on  our  Lord's  descent  into  Hades. 
We  learn  that  the  lowest  division  of  the  three 
mentioned  is  largely  tenanted  by  the  souls  of 
priests  and  Bishops  and  monks.  The  Bishops, 
with  mitres  of  fire  on  their  heads,  and  a  burning 
cross  in  their  hands,  are  clad  in  chasubles  of  flame. 
The  average  time  of  detention  for  a  Christian  of 
more  than  usual  sanctity,  one  who  has  never  com- 
mitted a  mortal  sin,  is  a  hundred  and  twenty-three 
years,  three  months,  and  fifteen  days.  These  are 
not,  moreover,  years  of  mere  earthly  measurement, 
as  witnessed  by  the  revelations  of  the  departed." 
Louvet  proves  this  thus:  There  were  two  priests 
who  were  friends,  to  one  of  whom  it  was  revealed 
that  he  would  be  released  from  purgatory  at  the 
first  mass  that  was  offered  for  him.  His  friend  on 
his  passing  flew  to  the  Altar  and  offered  it.  The 
departed  soon  appeared  to  him,  and  said,  "0  faith- 
less friend,  here  I  have  been  for  years  in  the  aveng- 
ing flames,  and  neither  you  nor  my  brethren  have 
had  the  charity  to  offer  a  single  mass  for  me." 
There  are  many  other  revelations  of  like  charac- 
ter which  Louvet  quotes  from  departed  priests.23 

"  Salmon,  InfalUUUtyt  206-214. 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         173 

In  a  work  by  Michael  Muller,24  we  read:  "From 
the  smallest  spark  of  this  purgatorial  fire,  souls 
suffer  more  intense  pains  than  all  the  fires  of  this 
world  put  together  could  produce.  In  the  fire, 
they  suffer  more  than  all  the  pains  of  disasters 
and  the  most  violent  diseases.  They  suffer  more 
than  all  the  most  cruel  torments  undergone  by 
malefactors  or  invented  by  the  most  barbarous 
tyrants.  They  suffer  more  than  all  the  torture  of 
the  martyrs  summed  up  together.  Our  terrestrial 
fire  was  not  created  to  torment  man,  but  the  fire 
in  purgatory  was  created  by  God  for  no  other  pur- 
pose than  to  be  an  instrument  of  His  justice." 
As  relief  is  to  be  obtained  by  masses  which  are  to 
be  paid  for,  this  doctrine  has  been,  and  is,  a  great 
source  of  pecuniary  profit  to  Rome.  She  repre- 
sents those  departed  crying  out  with  heartrending 
voices,  "Father,  mother,  have  pity  on  me,  your 
child."  "Brother,  have  pity  on  me,  your  brother" ; 
"Sister,  have  pity  on  me,  your  sister."  "Husband, 
have  pity  on  me,  your  wife" :  "Wife,  have  pity  on 
me,  your  husband."  Purgatory  and  Indulgences 


«*  M.  Muller,  Souls  in  Purgatory,  35-46. 


174  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

are  a  great  source  of  revenue  to  the  Eoinan  Church 
and  are  an  oppression  and  hardship  to  the  poor. 

MARIOLATKY. 

The  position  of  Mary  in  the  Roman  system  is 
different  from  that  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  or,  in- 
deed, the  Catholic  Church.  First,  she  is  said  by 
her  gifts  to  be  different  from  all  other  human  be- 
ings. It  is  declared  that,  "in  the  first  instant  of  her 
human  existence,  she  had  the  full  and  perfect  use 
of  her  intellectual  faculties.23  She  never  lived  that 
she  did  not  also  think,  and  understand,  and  know, 
and  purpose,  and  determine,  and  resolve,  and 
will."  She  was  thus  different  from  us. 

Again :  she  is  not  merely  regarded  as  a  saint,  or 
the  very  highest  of  saints.  She  has  an  office  and 
position  in  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ.  She  is 
called  the  "neck"  of  the  Church,28  as  Christ  is  called 
its  Head.  As  in  the  physical  order  the  blood  flows 
from  the  head  through  the  neck  into  the  body,  so  it 
is  held  or  taught  that  all  graces  that  come  from 
Christ  pass  through  Mary  to  us.27  "No  grace  is  dis- 


23  Mary  Magnifying  God,  Humphreys. 

28  Faber,  Notes  on  Doctrinal  Subjects,  Vol.  I.,  280. 

2T  Faber,  Notes,  Vol.  I.,  312. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         175 

pensed  to  men  without  passing  through  the  hands 
of  Mary."  Devotion  to  her  is  therefore  held  neces- 
sary to  salvation.  "Let  us  fly  to  thy  feet,  O  sweet 
Queen,  if  we  would  be  certain  of  salvation."  "He 
fails  and  is  lost  who  has  not  recourse  to  Mary." 
Again:  the  modern  doctrine  represents  Mary 
as  the  merciful  one,  while  Jesus,  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  is  the  representative  of  Justice.  It  is 
easier  therefore  to  go  to  Mary,  and  obtain  succour 
and  help  through  her,  than  it  is  to  go  to  Him,  who 
said,  "Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Wearing 
her  scapular  (a  piece  of  brown  cloth,  on  which  are 
pictures  which  represent  Mary,  and  to  which 
strings  are  attached,  so  that  it  may  be  tied  about 
the  shoulders),  is  held  to  be  a  means  of  deliverance 
from  eternal  flames.  This  is  assured  by  her  de- 
liverance from  the  souls  in  purgatory,  over  whom 
she  rules.  Pope  John  XXII.  declared  that  she 
appeared  and  informed  him  that  she  would  de- 
scend into  purgatory  each  Saturday  and  take  out 
of  the  flames  of  torment  those  who  wore  the 
scapular  when  they  were  on  earth.  This  belief  was 


88  Pusey,  Rule  of  Faith,  51-58. 


176  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

also  confirmed  and  made  a  matter  of  faith  by 
Pope  Alexander  V.,  Clement  VII.,  Pius  V.,  and 
Gregory  XIII.  The  tendency  of  such  teaching  is 
to  substitute  a  mechanical  means  of  salvation  for 
a  living  faith.  The  apparition  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  at  Lourdes  is  held  to  be  proved  by 
the  cures  that  are  wrought  there.  But  these  are 
no  more  proofs  of  doctrine  than  are  the  cures 
and  wonders  certified  by  the  followers  of  Sweden- 
borg,  Edward  Irving,  the  Mormons,  Dowie,  and 
Mrs.  Eddy.  We  are  warned  in  Holy  Scripture 
about  believing  in  such  visions  and  signs. 

The  prayers  offered  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  are 
not  merely  the  hyperbole,  or  exaggerated  expres- 
sions of  devotion,  as  some  Romans  have  contended, 
but  imply  that  she  holds  a  position  as  the  Saviour 
of  sinners  derogatory  to  the  supreme  position  of 
Christ.  It  is  said  that  "Mary  so  loved  the  world, 
that  she  gave  her  only  begotten  Son."  It  is  held 
that  all  who  are  saved,  are  saved  only  through  her 
means  and  advocacy.  So  far  has  this  idea  of  the 
union  with  her  been  carried,  as  to  imply  that  she 
is  given  to  us  along  with  Him  in  the  Eucharist. 
What  shall  we  say,  indeed,  to  such  paraphrases  of 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 


177 


the  Anima  Christi  and  the  Te  Deum  as  the  fol- 
lowing : 
•''Soul  of  the  Virgin,  illumi-      We  acknowledge  thee,  Mary 

nate  me;29 

Milk  of  the  Virgin,  feed  me : 
Passage     of     the     Virgin, 

strengthen  me: 
Make  me  always  to  trust  in 

thee; 

From  all  evil  protect  me; 
In   the   hour   of  my   death 

assist  me. 
Prepare  for  me  a  safe  way 

to  thee; 
That  with  the  elect  I  may 

glorify  thee 
For  ever  and  ever. 
We   praise   thee,   Maker   of 

God.80 

Commenting  on  Roman  devotions  to  Mary, 
Dr.  Pusey  wrote :  "Surely,  we  may  ask  with  St. 
Athanasius,  Whence  or  from  whom  did  they  learn 
this  ?  Who  of  the  Fathers  taught  it  ?  How  is  it 
that  none  of  the  Apostles  delivered  this  teaching  to 
those  after  them,  or  for  so  many  hundred  years 
the  Church  knew  nothing  of  it  ?"  sl 

While  Roman  devotions  to  Mary  have  dimin- 
ished worship  to  Christ,  in  no  portion  of  the 


the  Virgin: 

All  the  earth  doth  worship 
thee: 

Spouse  of  the  Eternal 
Father 

To  thee  all  angels  and  arch- 
angels, 

Thrones  and  principalities, 
faithfully  do  serve. 

To  thee  the  whole  angelic 
creation 

With  incessant  voice  pro- 
claim 

Holy,  holy,  holy,  Mary. 


29  Cusack,  What  Rome  Teaches,  136. 

«>  Robertson,  R.  C.  Church  in  Italy,  235. 

"  Rule  of  Faith,  51-58. 


178  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Church  has  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  and  the 
adoration  of  the  God-Man  been  better  preserved 
than  in  the  Anglican  Communion. 

UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Christ  prayed  that  His  Church  shall  be  one, 
even  as  He  and  the  Father  were  one.  Now,  the 
unity  in  the  Divine  Life  is  a  unity  of  Nature. 
This  unity  is  an  eternal  and  indestructible  one. 
So  it  was  to  be  in  the  Church.  Its  members  were 
to  be  united  to  Christ  in  baptism,  and  by  the  Sac- 
raments, and  so  to  be  made  members  of  Him. 
They  would  form  altogether,  as  it  is  said  in  the 
Scripture,  "the  family  of  Jesus  Christ."  As  being 
born  again  by  baptism,  they  would  form  one  fam- 
ily or  generation.  Thus  the  union  that  binds  its 
members  together  is  to  be  like  unto  the  union 
that  binds  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  a  family  in 
one.  The  baptized  are  one,  because  they  all  par- 
take of  one  nature,  viz. :  the  nature  of  Christ. 
This  is  that  unity  for  which  Christ  prayed;  it  is 
an  indestructible  unity,  and  will  have  an  eternal 
duration.  It  will  thus  be  like  that  organic  unity 
which  binds  the  Father  and  the  Son  together.  As 
no  amount  of  quarreling  among  the  members  of 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         179 

an  earthly  family  can  destroy  the  family  unity 
which  comes  from  the  common  descent,  so  no 
amount  of  quarreling  in  the  Church  can  destroy 
its  unity.  Brothers  and  sisters  may  quarrel,  may 
refuse  to  speak,  or  to  acknowledge  one  another; 
but  this  cannot  affect  the  unity  of  the  family. 
They  are  still  brothers  and  sisters,  whatever  they 
may  say  or  do.  Thus  all  the  quarreling  within  the 
Church  cannot  destroy  its  unity.  The  gates  of  hell 
cannot  prevail  against  it. 

But  "union"  is  a  different  thing  from  "unity." 
The  family  is  one  from  its  common  descent.  But 
its  members  can  quarrel,  and  it  may  become  a 
disunited  family.  This  is  what  has  taken  place 
in  the  Christian  Church.  Our  Lord  prayed,  how- 
ever, not  only  for  unity,  but  for  union  among  His 
followers.  He  prayed  that  they  might  be  so  united 
together  that  the  world  might  recognize  the  super- 
natural power  and  divine  mission  of  His  Church 
as  sent  by  Him.  Now  it  is  this  fellowship  and 
communion  which  the  Church  has  lost,  to  the 
great  injury  of  its  spiritual  and  missionary  power. 
The  principle  of  this  union  was  to  be  found  in  the 
divine  charity  which  makes  men  of  one  mind  in  a 
house.  It  was  divine  charity  and  humble  submis- 


180  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

sion  to  the  authority  of  the  universal  Church  which 
was  to  keep  the  local  Churches  united.  Such  love 
and  humility  would  witness  to  the  indwelling  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  enable  men  to  realize  the 
supernatural  mission  of  the  Church.  It  is  in  con- 
trast with  this  that  Rome  has  set  up,  as  a  principle 
of  union,  submission  to  the  monarchical  power  of 
the  papacy.  There  is  nothing  supernatural  in  the 
papal  conception,  which  is  of  the  earth,  earthy, 
nor  has  it  wrought  to  the  preservation  of  union. 
It  is  mainly  through  this  papal  conception  that 
the  Church  has  become  divided  into  East  and 
West,  Latin  and  Anglican,  Rome's  unscriptural 
and  uncanonical  claim  to  supremacy  being  the 
cause  of  the  division.  She  is  the  creator  of  schism, 
is  a  schism atical  Church,  and  is  in  schism  every- 
where. 

PAPAL  FALLACIES. 

"The  Church,  being  a  kingdom,  must  have  a 
head."  It  has.  Christ  is  the  Head.  It  does  not, 
however,  follow  from  its  being  a  kingdom  that  the 
part  on  earth  should  have  a  separate  head. 

Another  point  out  of  which  Romans  make 
much  is  that  the  Church  on  earth,  being  a  visible 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         181 

society,  must  have  a  visible  head.  Our  answer  is, 
that  visibility  requires  a  visible  organization,  but 
not  one  visible  head.  So  it  must  be  with  the 
Church.  Every  family  or  nation  has  a  head, 
and  so  has  every  Diocese;  but  it  does  not  follow 
from  this  fact  that  there  should  be  a  visible  head 
over  all  Bishops,  any  more  than  that  there  should 
be  one  king  over  all  nations.  Pope  Leo  XIII.  said 
that  because  Christ  was  about  to  withdraw  His 
visible  presence,  it  was  necessary  He  should  ap- 
point some  one  in  His  place.  To  this  we  agree. 
He  did  so  by  sending  the  Holy  Spirit  as  His  in- 
visible Vicar,  and  the  Bishops  collectively  to  be 
His  visible  representative.  Again,  Romans  say 
in  all  governments  there  must  be  a  supreme  court 
of  appeal,  and  the  Pope  occupies  that  place.  But 
there  is  this  difference:  the  Supreme  Court  often 
alters  its  opinions,  when  it  finds  out  its  mistakes, 
but  an  infallible  Pope  cannot  deny  what  he  has 
said,  however  erroneous  it  may  be.  The  system 
breaks  down  not  only  because  Popes  have  contra- 
dicted themselves,  but  because  Eomans  differ  as  to 
when  the  Pope  speaks  infallibly. 

Again :  a  third  assertion,  often  heard  from  ad- 
vocates of  the  papacy,  is  that  the  Anglican  clergy 


182  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

have  no  authority  for  their  teaching.  This  is  not 
true.  Their  authority  is  that  of  the  whole  Cath- 
olic Church,  what  it  has  held  from  the  beginning 
unanimously,  and  says  now.  Our  authority  is  the 
Living  Voice  of  the  whole  Church.  Again,  it  is 
said  the  "papacy  is  the  only  source  of  union."  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  has  been  the  great  principle  of 
division,  and  by  demanding  new  doctrines  as  terms 
of  communion,  is  the  great  creator  of  schism. 
Again,  "there  are  divisions  in  doctrine  and  ritual 
in  the  Anglican  Church."  There  have  always 
been  some  divisions.  High  and  Low  Churchmen 
differ :  one  party  emphasizes  the  objective,  and  the 
other  the  subjective,  side  of  religion.  But  the  dif- 
ferences between  them  are  more  in  expression  than 
in  essentials.  The  Church's  ritual  is  wisely  com- 
prehensive, and  the  Prayer  Book,  as  the  authorized 
voice  of  the  Church,  is  a  safe  and  clear  guide  to 
all  humble  souls. 

Finally  the  Roman  advocate  says:  "You  ad- 
mit that  Romans  can  be  saved;  we  do  not  admit 
that  Anglicans,  being  outside  the  Church,  can  be 
saved."  Certainly,  we  admit  that  good  Romans 
can  be  saved,  but  we  do  not  say  that  Anglicans 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         183 

who  deny  the  Sacraments  and  leave  their  post  are 
in  a  safe  position. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  PAPACY. 

Let  us  now  make  a  resume  of  the  development 
of  the  papacy.  We  may  divide  it  into  five  periods. 
The  first  period  embraces  the  first  six  centuries, 
down  to  the  time  of  Pope  Gregory  I.  The  Bishop 
of  Rome  was  then  looked  up  to  with  filial  regard, 
as  the  first  of  the  Patriarchs,  and  often  consulted 
as  the  head  of  the  Apostolic  See  of  Western  Chris- 
tendom. His  responsive  letters  were  termed 
"epistles,"  and  not,  as  subsequently,  "decretals." 
Undoubtedly  his  influence  was  great.  The  second 
period  extends  from  Gregory  I.  to  Clement  VI. 
(1046).  This  was  a  period  of  the  growth  of  papal 
claims,  extension  of  patriarchal  power,  claims  of 
supremacy  that  led  to  the  division  between  East 
and  West.  The  Pope  begins  to  call  himself  in  this 
period  "Vicar  of  Christ."  The  third  period  was 
the  age  from  1046  to  the  end  of  the  Crusades, 
and  was  the  age  of  its  greatness,  when  it  reached 
its  climax  under  Hildebrand  and  Innocent  III. 
The  fourth  period  was  that  marked  by  its  decline. 
It  covered  the  time  from  the  removal  to  Avignon 


184  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

to  that  of  the  Reformation.  The  papacy  became 
nationalized,  and  lost  its  former  international  posi- 
tion. The  Great  Schism,  when  there  were  con- 
flicting Popes,  lost  for  it  spiritual  power,  while 
the  worldliness  and  luxury  of  the  Renaissance  af- 
fected its  moral  standing.  At  the  Reformation,  it 
lost  its  hold  on  Northern  Europe.  The  last  period, 
or  modern  papacy,  though  no  longer  sunk  in  im- 
morality, has  become  by  its  definition  of  papal 
infallibility  a  solid  political  machine.  It  is  quite 
outspoken  in  its  defiance  of  modern  thought.  It 
has  lost  the  adherence  of  the  intelligent  classes  in 
Southern  Europe.  It  is  chiefly  strong  in  theory 
and  assertion.  The  claims  of  the  papacy,  however, 
will  not  bear  the  test  of  Scripture,  the  Fathers,  or 
history.  It  took  centuries  for  the  Germanic  and 
Anglo-Saxon  people  to  learn  the  falsity  of  the 
papal  claims.  Truth  percolates  slowly  from  sound 
scholarship  to  the  masses,  but  at  last  it  comes. 
When  the  intelligent  Roman  Catholic  clergy  and 
laity  shake  off  the  bondage  of  forbidden  investiga- 
tion, and  examine  the  foundation  of  the  papal 
claim,  they  will  revolt  from  it.  They  will  recog- 
nize the  distinction  between  Catholicity  and 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         185 

papacy,  and  see  that  Christians  may  be  Catholics 
without  being  papists. 

THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL. 

Lastly,  let  us  consider  the  Vatican  Council  of 
1869.  According  to  Dr.  Dollinger,  it  violated  the 
principles  of  the  ancient  Councils.  The  subject  of 
the  Pope's  infallibility,  though  dealt  with,  was  not 
put  in  the  summons  to  the  Council.  What  right 
had  it  then  to  deal  with  that  subject?  On  arriv- 
ing, the  Bishops  found  that  they  were  not  in  the 
exercise  of  the  ordinary  right  of  members  to  elect 
their  own  officers.  The  presidents  and  officers  of 
the  Council  had  been  appointed  by  the  Pope. 
Freedom  to  bring  forward  motions  or  propositions 
was  denied.  No  proposition  could  be  brought  for- 
ward unless  it  was  approved  first  by  a  committee 
nominated  by  the  Pope.  The  great  principle  al- 
ways governing  councils,  as  Dollinger  says,  "that 
nothing  should  be  done  in  matters  of  faith  without 
practical  unanimity,"  was  ignored.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  Bishops  left  the  Council,  among  them  some 
of  the  most  able  and  learned,  who  were  not  pres- 
ent at  the  final  promulgation.  The  scene  of  this, 
as  described  at  the  time,  was  a  portentous  one. 


186  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Rarely,  if  ever,  do  we  read,  did  such  a  storm  of 
thunder  and  lightning  break  over  the  city.  In  the 
midst  of  the  gloom  and  darkness,  the  Pope  read, 
in  the  increasing  dimness  of  the  church,  the  dec- 
laration his  henchmen  had  prepared.  A  singular 
mark  of  God's  interference  followed.  The  next 
day,  the  Franco-Prussian  war  broke  out,  and 
France  was  obliged  to  withdraw  her  troops,  which 
had  been  the  protection  of  the  papacy,  from  Rome. 
The  Italian  troops,  welcomed  by  all  patriotic  Ital- 
ians, entered  Rome,  which  became  then  the  capital 
of  the  united  kingdom  of  Italy.  The  temporal 
power  of  the  papacy  fell,  never  to  be  revived. 
This  then  is  our  conclusion :  the  papacy  is  the  de- 
velopment of  an  evil  principle,  and  submission  to 
it  is  no  way  to  union.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
we  are  not  speaking  against  Catholicity,  but  the 
papacy,  and  while  we  attribute  the  development  of 
the  papacy  to  a  worldly  motive,  we  believe  that 
God  loves  the  Roman  Communion  and  raises  up 
many  saintly  souls  in  it.  God's  Holy  Spirit  has 
been,  in  the  last  century,  calling  the  Anglican 
Church  to  reclaim  its  Catholic  heritage,  and  the 
Church  has  been  responding  to  Him.  The  same 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         187 

Holy  Spirit,  it  would  seem,  has  been  pleading 
with  Rome  to  return  to  Catholicity,  and  she  has, 
we  grieve  to  think,  rejecting  Him,  become  less 
Catholic  and  more  papal. 

AN  ANGLICAN'S  DUTY. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  practical  question 
before  our  Church  to-day  is,  not  which  party  was 
more  in  the  right,  Rome  or  England,  at  the  time 
of  the  Reformation,  but  who  is  in  the  right  to- 
day ?  The  teaching  and  claims  of  Rome  are  now 
far  different  from  what  they  were  then.  Since  the 
Reformation,  Rome  has  denied  our  orders,  and  has 
added  to  the  Faith  two  dogmas  which  were  un- 
known as  such  in  primitive  times.  She  has  added 
the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
and  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope.  She  has  con- 
solidated in  the  Pope  all  power,  executive,  legis- 
lative, and  judicial.  We  may  well,  as  loyal 
Churchmen  holding  the  ancient  faith,  shrink  from 
accepting  any  such  claims.  We  may  well  hold 
back  from  running  the  risk  of  sinning  by  denying 
our  sacraments  and  deserting  our  post. 

To  any  one  tempted  to  this  sin,  let  us  say,  more- 


188  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

over,  that  the  issue  between  Rome  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  Eastern  and  Anglican  Churches  on  the 
other,  can  rightly  be  decided  only  by  a  free  Gen- 
eral Council. 

It  would  be  gross  self-assertion  for  an  individ- 
ual to  assume  such  powers.  Even  if  granted,  for 
the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  Eastern  and  An- 
glican Churches  were  in  the  wrong,  and  that  Rome, 
in  its  claims  for  supremacy,  is  in  the  right,  never- 
theless, since  no  Ecumenical  Council  has  decided 
in  favor  of  Rome,  it  cannot  be  the  duty  of  any  one 
to  act  on  his  own  private  judgment  and  join  her. 
We  could  not  be  condemned  at  the  Judgment  Seat 
of  God  if  we  should  not  do  so.  On  the  contrary, 
if  Rome  is  in  the  wrong,  and  the  Eastern  and 
Anglican  Churches  are  in  the  right,  to  leave  our 
Church,  denying  its  Sacraments,  and  deserting 
one's  post,  is  to  commit  a  grievous  sin  against  our 
Lord  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  will  stain  our 
whole  life  and  destroy  our  claim  for  reward  for 
any  work  we  may  do.  And  if  any  have  fallen  into 
this  sin,  the  only  way  to  make  reparation  is,  how- 
ever humbling  it  may  be,  to  return  to  the  old 
Mother  Church. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.    189 


BOOKS  REFERRED  TO  IN  CHAPTER  VI. 

History  of  the  Popes.    Bower  &  Ranke. 

Milman's  Latin  Christianity. 

Baronius*  History. 

Pope  and  Council.    Janus. 

Primitive  Church  and  Primacy  of  Rome.     Bartoli. 

Papal  Supremacy.    Robertson. 

Petrine  Claims.     Littledale. 

Primitive  Saints  and  the  See  of  Rome.    Puller. 

Roman  Claims  to  Supremacy.    Robertson. 

Rise  of  the  Papal  Power.    Hussey. 

Infallibility.    Salmon. 

Papal  Infallibility.     Sampson. 

Life  of  Bishop  Orosseteste. 

Launoii's  Works. 

Hallam's  Middle  Ages. 

Anglican  Brief  Against  Roman  Claims.    Brinckman. 

The  Papacy  During  the  Reformation.    Bishop  Creighton. 

Church  of  England  versus  the  Roman  Church.     Patterson. 

Souls  in  Purgatory.    Michael  Mttller. 

Roman  See  and  the  Early  Church.    Bright. 

Papal  Claims.     Seymour. 

Maria  Sanctissima.    Keller. 

Letters  from  Rome  in  Councils.     Quirinus. 

Romish  Indulgences  of  To-day.     Fulona. 

The  Privilege  of  Peter.    Jenkins. 

Roman  Catholic  Churches  in  Italy.     Robertson. 

The  Reformation.    Whitney. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CHUKCH  OF  ENGLAND  IN  THE 
MIDDLE  AGES. 

IT  is  POSSIBLE,  in  this  short  space,  to  state 
only  a  few  historical  points  that  mark  the  period 
from  the  Norman  Conquest  to  the  Reformation. 
We  may  divide  them  under  the  heads  of  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Church  to  the  Crown,  the  relation  of 
both  to  the  papacy,  and  the  training  and  condition 
of  the  clergy. 

I.  What  was  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  Crown  ?  On  the  establishment  of  the  Norman 
rule,  a  change  took  place  in  the  administration  of 
justice.  Whereas  before,  the  Bishop  had  sat  in 
the  shire-mote,  along  with  the  sheriff,  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  law,  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 
matters  were  now  separated,  and  ecclesiastical 
causes  were  determined  by  the  Bishop,  sitting 
alone  in  his  own  court.  An  appeal  might  be  taken 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         191 

from  him  to  the  Archbishop's  court,  and  in  certain 
cases  to  Rome.  This  division  had  its  advantages, 
which  were  in  favour  of  the  Church. 

But  the  division  into  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
cases  was  not  well  defined.  The  Church  claimed 
jurisdiction,  not  only  over  her  own  criminous 
clergy,  but  over  all  cases  involving  crime,  and 
finally  in  the  matter  of  probate  of  wills.  The  di- 
vision of  Bishops'  court  from  sheriffs'  court  had 
two  results :  it  made  the  clergy  a  privileged  class, 
and  it  led  to  a  system  of  canon  law,  with  the  Pope 
as  supreme  judge.  It  could  not  but,  in  time,  bring 
on  a  clash  with  common  law,  which  recognized  the 
king  as  the  fountain  of  national  justice.  The  con- 
test came  to  a  head  in  the  issue  of  investitures. 
The  newly-appointed  Bishop  had  been  accustomed 
in  England  to  do  homage  to  the  King,  and  to  re- 
ceive from  him  the  Episcopal  ring  and  the  pastoral 
staff,  as  symbols  of  his  political  authority.  The 
Popes  had  begun  to  denounce  this  practice,  and  it 
had  been  condemned  in  a  Roman  Council.  A 
fierce  and  bitter  struggle  took  place  in  England 
between  Archbishop  Anselm  and  King  Henry  I.1 
It  was  at  last  settled  by  the  King's  abandoning  his 


1  Docs,  of  Eng.  Ch.  His.,  p.  64. 


192  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

right  to  invest  with  ring  and  staff  as  symbols  of 
spiritual  authority,  but  retaining  the  oath  of  hom- 
age to  himself  on  the  bestowal  of  the  temporalities, 
and  the  acknowledgment  of  feudal  allegiance  and 
obedience. 

The  contest  between  the  Church  and  State 
came  up  later,  in  the  case  of  King  Henry  II.  and 
Archbishop  Becket.  The  king  was  determined 
that  clerical  privileges  should  be  made  subservient 
to  royal  prerogatives.  Becket  stood  for  the  rights 
of  the  clergy  and  the  necessity  of  resisting  the 
royal  encroachments.  In  one  matter,  the  king 
seems  to  have  been  in  the  right.  There  had  been 
a  separation  of  the  secular  and  the  ecclesiastical 
courts.  All  clerical  offenses,  whatever  the  cause, 
were  to  be  tried  in  the  latter.  However  great 
their  crimes,  the  clergy  were  only  liable  to  be 
punished  by  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  not,  as 
lay  criminals  were,  in  the  State  criminal  courts. 
Under  the  easy  way  in  which  the  tonsure  for  Holy 
Orders  was  then  given,  there  arose  a  body  of  un- 
principled men  who  were  protected  by  the  law 
from  the  just  punishment  due  their  evil  deeds. 
The  king  proposed  that  the  cleric  condemned  in 
the  ecclesiastical  court  should  be  remitted  to  the 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         193 

secular  one  for  sentence.    Becket  refused  to  accept 
this  innovation  in  the  law. 

In  1164,  the  king  produced  a  certain  declara- 
tion, which  from  the  place  of  its  issue  came  to  be 
known  as  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon.  It  de- 
clared that  no  Bishop  should  leave  the  kingdom 
without  the  king's  consent,  nor  should  appeal  be 
taken  to  Rome  without  his  leave.  Both  of  these 
were  ancient  customs  of  the  realm.  The  Constitu- 
tions declared  a  new  principle:  that  the  higher 
clergy  held  their  land  by  barony;  and  that,  on  a 
vacancy  occurring,  the  rents  and  profits  reverted  to 
the  Crown.  Whatever  might  be  the  history  of  the 
thirteen  clauses  of  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon, 
to  Becket  they  seemed  a  tyrannous  expression  of 
an  arbitrary  and  masterful  will.2  The  story  is  a 
long  one,  how  the  quarrel  between  King  and  Prel- 
ate grew  in  intensity,  till  at  last,  in  a  moment  of 
anger  at  Becket' s  excommunication  of  himself  and 
his  barons,  the  king  broke  out  in  words  which  were 
interpreted  to  mean  a  desire  for  the  Archbishop's 
life.  Four  armed  knights  hastened  to  Canterbury 
and  entered  the  Cathedral,  crying  out,  "Where  is 


*Docs,  of  Eng.  Ch.  His.,  p.  68. 


194  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  traitor  ?"  "Here,"  said  Becket,  "is  the  Arch- 
bishop, no  traitor,  but  a  priest  of  God."  His  dig- 
nity and  saintly  presence  for  a  moment  awed  them. 
But,  fired  with  an  unquenchable  hatred,  they  struck 
him  down,  and  his  brains  lay  scattered  on  the  pave- 
ment.3 This  savage  deed  roused  all  England.  It 
turned  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  Becket's  favor. 
They  forgot  all  else,  and  saw  in  him  only  one  who 
had  lost  his  life  in  defence  of  their  rights  as 
against  a  tyrannous  king.  The  result  was  that 
the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  became  much  of  a 
dead  letter.  No  further  check  was  made  to  ap- 
peals to  Rome.  But  the  law  remained  that  papal 
bulls  could  not  be  introduced  into  the  country,  and 
that  none  of  the  king's  subjects  could  leave  it 
without  the  king's  consent.  It  was  also  allowed  by 
the  king  that  no  cleric  should  be  sentenced  by  the 
civil  court.  Thus,  on  the  whole,  the  Church  suc- 
ceeded in  her  struggle  with  the  Crown. 

This  condition  led  to  many  scandals,  "when 
the  papal  courts,"  as  Wakeman  says,  "became  far 
more  corrupt  than  the  king's  courts,"  and  the  na- 
tional ecclesiastical  law  became  worse  administered 
than  the  king's  criminal  law.  A  state  of  affairs 


'His.  Ch.  Eng.,  Wakeman,  p.  115. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         195 

began  to  exist  exactly  contrary  to  that  with  which 
Becket  had  to  deal.  The  relation  between  the  two 
powers  became  ever  in  a  state  of  conflict,  and  ever 
needing  readjustment,  and  it  has  continued  so  to 
the  present  day. 

II.  What  was  the  relation  of  the  Church  and 
the  King  at  this  period  to  the  papacy  ? 

The  Norman  Conquest  brought  England  into 
closer  relationship  with  the  Continent  and  the 
Pope.  The  English  Church,  united  under  Arch- 
bishop Theodore,  had  regarded  the  Pope  as  the 
first  Bishop  in  Christendom,  with  whom  its  Bish- 
ops were  joined  in  Christian  fellowship.  The 
English  Church  had  been  peculiarly  a  national 
one,  with  practically  no  outside  authority  which 
it  was  bound  to  obey.  The  English  selected  their 
own  Bishops.  The  Church  made  its  own  canons, 
which  needed  no  other  authority.  The  Norman 
Conquest  brought  about  a  change.  The  Pope  had 
blessed  the  enterprise  of  William  of  Normandy 
in  coming  over  to  England,  which  was  subdued  in 
a  few  years.  Before  William's  disciplined  sol- 
diers, armed  with  sword  and  bow,  the  English, 
with  their  more  primitive  weapons  of  axe  and 
javelin,  went  to  defeat.  The  Normans  were  Chris- 


196  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tians,  but  with  a  Roman  training.  Their  Bishops 
and  priests  had  been  educated  in  the  Roman  the- 
ology. Therefore  they  brought  a  Roman  element 
to  England.  A  number  of  the  old  Bishops  and 
clergy  were  removed,  and  Normans  were  placed  in 
their  Sees  and  parishes.  Two  Roman  legates  came 
over,  and  at  the  Synod  of  Winchester,  Stigand, 
the  old  Archbishop,  was  deposed.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  a  series  of  important  interventions 
in  English  affairs  on  the  part  of  the  papacy. 

Then,  in  the  eleventh  century,  after  the  papacy 
had  sunk  to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation, 
and  three  abandoned  women  had  ruled  at  Rome,4 
there  came  a  reaction.  There  arose  an  imperial 
and  powerful  Pope,  Hildebrand,  who  claimed,  as 
from  God,  authority  over  all  kings  and  their  peo- 
ple. He  was  the  possessor  of  the  two  swords,  of 
all  temporal  and  spiritual  power.  Kings  of  the 
earth  held  and  ruled  as  delegated  by  him  and 
under  him.  He  could  remove  them,  and  absolve 
their  subjects  from  all  obedience.  He  could  ex- 
communicate them,  and  lay  their  lands  under  in- 
terdict. He  could  thereby  deprive  all  their  sub- 
jects of  all  of  the  offices  of  religion.  It  was  a  fear- 


bat.  Christianity,  Milman.     Baronlus. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         197 

fully  tremendous  claim  and  power.  Hildebrand 
wrote  demanding  that  William's  subjects  should 
pay  him  Peter's  pence.  He  also  demanded  that 
the  king  should,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  papal 
sovereignty,  do  homage  to  him  for  his  crown. 
William  replied  that  he  would  not  hinder  his  sub- 
jects from  giving  freewill  offerings  to  the  Pope, 
but  as  for  submission  for  his  own  crown,  he  said, 
"Fealty  I  have  never  willed  to  do,  nor  do  I  will 
to  do  it  now.  I  never  promised  it,  nor  do  I  find 
that  my  predecessors  promised  it  to  yours." 

The  same  spirit  of  independence  of  Roman  as- 
sumptions was  shown  by  Rufus.  There  were  rival 
Popes.  Anselm,  the  Archbishop,  honoured  one, 
the  king  the  other.  The  Archbishop  fled  to  Rome, 
and  the  king  would  not  reinstate  him  in  his  See. 
The  Pope  sent  word  that  if  the  king  would  not 
reinstate  Anselm,  he  would  excommunicate  him. 
The  king's  reply  was  that  he  would  tear  out  the 
Pope's  messenger's  eyes  if  they  should  come  to 
England.  They  did  not  come. 

Another  papal  imposition  was  a  money  one. 
From  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  to  the  Refor- 
mation, the  consistent  aim  of  the  papacy  was  to  ex- 


Docs,  of  Eng.  His.,  p.  57. 


198  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

tend  its  authority,  and  to  use  it  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  money.  The  account  given  in  Wake- 
man's  late  history  is  as  follows:  "In  1226,  Pope 
Honorius  III.  demanded  for  himself  the  grant  of 
two  prebends  in  each  Cathedral.  In  1229,  Greg- 
ory IX.  claimed  a  tenth  of  all  movables  from  both 
clergy  and  laity.  Later,  by  his  legate  Otho,  he 
assessed  a  fifth  of  all  ecclesiastical  revenues.  In 
1246,  Pope  Innocent  IV.  demanded  a  third  of  the 
revenues  from  all  vacant  incumbencies.  In  1258, 
Alexander  IV.  excommunicated  the  clergy  who 
had  not  paid  their  dues. 

"Moreover,  the  Pope  began  to  claim  the  right 
of  appointing  to  English  benefices.  He  not  only 
appointed  when  there  was  a  vacancy,  but  before 
the  vacancy  occurred.  This  practice  was  called 
the  system  of  papal  provisors.  The  Pope  often 
used  his  power  in  nominating  personal  friends, 
Italians,  and  in  selecting  those  who  never  went 
near  their  Sees,  but  only  drew  their  revenues. 
He  bade  Bishop  Grosseteste  install  his  nephew,  a 
mere  boy,  in  a  canonry,  a  thing  which  the  Bishop 
refused  to  do.  By  this  system,  the  revenues  of  the 
most  valuable  benefices  passed  to  non-resident  Ital- 
ians. In  1231,  Gregory  IX.  forbade  the  English 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         199 

Bishops  to  appoint  to  any  benefices  until  some 
friends  of  his  had  been  provided  for.  In  1239, 
he  tried  to  extend  the  system  to  benefices  in  pri- 
vate patrons'  hands.  In  1240,  he  required  the 
Bishops  of  Lincoln  and  Salisbury  to  find  bene- 
fices for  no  less  than  399  foreigners.  It  was  cal- 
culated by  Bishop  Grosseteste  in  1253  that  the 
revenues  derived  by  foreign  ecclesiastics  from  Eng- 
lish benefices  amounted  to  three  times  the  royal 
revenue.  In  1256,  Alexander  IV.  laid  claim  to 
the  first  fruits,  called  annates,  of  the  emoluments 
of  bishoprics.  The  whole  system  is  said  to  have 
brought  into  the  papal  exchequer  no  less  than 
£160,000  in  the  forty  years  preceding  the  quarrel 
between  Henry  VIII.  and  the  papacy." 

The  Church  and  State  at  different  times  passed 
laws  against  the  whole  system.  There  was  the 
Statute  of  Provisors,  passed  in  1351,  which  made 
the  obtaining  of  a  benefice  from  the  Pope  in  der- 
ogation of  the  rights  of  patrons  an  offence  punish- 
able by  law.  This  was  followed,  in  1353  and  in 
1394,  by  the  Statutes  of  Praemunire,  which  for- 
bade appeals  to  foreign  courts,  namely,  the  Popes, 
under  penalty  of  outlawry.6  In  the  time  of  Car- 


8  Docs.  Eng.  Ch.  Hist.,  Gee  &  Hardy,  p.  122. 


200  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

dinal  Beaufort  it  was  declared  that  no  legate 
should  come  unasked  into  the  kingdom.  It  was 
this  venality  on  the  part  of  Rome,  and  its  oppres- 
sion, that  roused  the  nation,  especially  the  laity, 
and  led  the  way  to  the  Reformation. 

No  less  severe  was  the  contest  between  the 
Pope  and  the  nation  in  the  time  of  King  John, 
who  had  basely  surrendered  his  trust,  and  done 
homage  to  the  Pope  as  receiving  the  kingdom 
from  him.  All  know  how  the  great  Archbishop, 
Stephen  Langton,  and  the  Barons  met  at  Runny- 
mede,  and  signed  the  Magna  Charta.  That  great 
Charter  declared  the  Ecclesia  Anglicana  free  to 
have  its  own  laws  and  liberties.  This  declaration 
has  been  cited  by  Roman  Catholics  as  showing  how 
the  Church  was  on  the  side  of  progress  and  liberty. 
But  it  has  not  always  been  remembered  that  the 
Pope  stood  by  John  and  pronounced  Magna  Char- 
ta to  be  null  and  void.  The  papacy  has  not  been 
on  the  side  of  the  people,  save  on  the  few  occasions 
when  it  has  been  its  interest  to  be  so. 

III. — CONDITION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

It  is  more  agreeable  to  turn  now  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  Church  and  clergy  during  the  Mid- 


ss 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         201 

die  Ages.  The  Church  developed  under  the  Nor- 
mans, who  were  Christians;  and  Churches  began 
to  be  multiplied.  There  was  also  a  considerable 
revival  of  the  monastic  spirit,  and  many  noble 
monasteries  were  founded.  Lands  and  money 
were  freely  given  for  their  endowment.  In  Saxon 
times  the  land  had  been  divided  into  parishes; 
now  we  find  the  establishment  of  Vicarages,  which 
were  served  by  monks  from  the  neighboring  mon- 
asteries. A  striking  social  feature  of  the  time  was 
the  way  in  which  the  Church  gathered  her  minis- 
try from  all  classes  of  the  people.  The  lords  of 
the  manor  might  present  their  younger  sons,  and 
the  vicars  might  be  the  nominees  of  the  Religious 
houses.  The  middle  classes,  however,  supplied  a 
great  number  of  the  clergy.  There  were  also  cases 
where  a  serf  obtained  leave  from  his  lord  to  send 
his  son  to  school.  There  were  always  some  who 
took  a  less  liberal  view;  and  we  find,  even  in  the 
vision  of  Piers  Plowman,  the  more  liberal  senti- 
ments satirized.  He  says  that  bondsmen  and  beg- 
gars' children  belong  to  labor,  and  should  serve 
lords'  sons,  and  that  lords'  sons  should  serve  God 
as  belongeth  to  their  degree.  When  this  principle 
was  urged  at  the  Reformation  at  the  founding  of 


202  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

King's  School  at  Canterbury,  Archbishop  Cranmer 
resisted  it,  saying,  "To  exclude  the  poor  man's  son 
from  benefits  of  learning,  is  as  much  as  to  say  that 
Almighty  God  should  not  be  at  liberty  to  bestow 
His  gifts  according  to  His  most  goodly  will  and 
pleasure." 

The  career  that  mother  Church  thus  threw 
open  to  all  extended  not  only  to  the  offices  of  the 
Church  but  also  to  those  of  the  State.  From  the 
monastery  or  cathedral  school,  the  earnest  or  am- 
bitious student  went  to  some  more  famous  centre 
of  learning,  to  Boulogne  for  law,  to  Paris  for  the- 
ology, to  Salerno  for  medicine,  in  England  to  Ox- 
ford or  Cambridge,  which  were  organized  univer- 
sities early  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  clergy 
were  not,  unless  by  their  own  will,  uninstructed.7 
The  course  of  reading  was,  in  the  grammar  schools, 
four  years  in  the  Latin  language,  literature,  rhe- 
toric, and  logic,  three  years  in  science,  i.e.,  arith- 
metic, music,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  After- 
wards seven  years'  study  in  theology,  and  three 
years  in  the  Bible.  They  went  up  to  the  univer- 
sity at  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  the  thir- 


1  Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  p.  139. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         203 

teenth  century  there  were  about  3,000  students  at 
Oxford.8 

An  interesting  account  of  his  own  life  is  given 
by  Bishop  Latimer  in  a  sermon  preached  before 
the  king,  which  gives  us  an  account  of  the  farmer 
who  sent  his  clever  son  to  school.9  "My  father," 
he  said,  "was  a  yeoman,  and  had  no  lands  of  his 
own,  only  a  farm  of  three  or  four  pounds  a  year 
by  the  uttermost,  and  hereupon  he  tilled  as  much 
as  kept  half  a  dozen  men.  He  had  a  walk  for 
a  hundred  sheep,  and  my  mother  milked  thirty 
kine.  He  was  able,  and  did  find  the  king  a  har- 
ness and  his  horse.  I  remember  that  I  buckled 
on  his  harness  when  he  went  to  Blackheath  Field. 
He  sent  me  to  a  school,  or  else  I  had  not  been 
able  to  preach  before  the  King's  Majesty  now.  He 
kept  hospitality  for  his  poor  neighbors,  and  some 
alms  he  gave  to  the  poor,  and  all  this  he  did  of 
the  same  farm." 

It  was  easy  for  the  student  to  get  into  minor 
orders,  but  he  could  not  be  priested  without  pass- 
ing the  Bishop's  examination,  and  obtaining  a 
title,  i.e.,  a  definitely  assigned  place  where  he 


8  Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  p.  140. 
8  Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  p.  140. 
10  Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  p.  140. 


204  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

could  practise  the  ministry.  There  were,  of 
course,  a  number  of  men  whose  vocation  became 
wrecked,  as  is  the  case  now.  We  find  the  worldly 
and  unconverted  clergy  throwing  off  the  clerical 
habit  and  adopting  the  secular  dress  of  the  time. 
From  disciplinary  canons  which  were  made,  we 
learn  of  their  wearing  girded  belts,  rings  on  their 
fingers,  and  long  beards,  and  concealing  their  ton- 
sure. We  see,  in  our  own  day,  clergy  asserting 
that  they  are  amen  before  they  are  priests,"  throw- 
ing off  the  clerical  attire  and  wearing  a  secular 
dress.  "Clergy  then  persisted,"  says  Cutts,  "in 
wearing  their  hair  cut  like  other  people's,  and 
short  skirted  coats,  and  their  ordinary  dress  was  of 
red  or  blue,  or  other  colors,  instead  of  grey  or 
black,  and  they  ofttimes  carried  a  short  sword." 
The  costume  worn  in  Church  continued  to  be 
practically  the  same  as  in  early  times,  a  long  un- 
der-garment  or  tunic,  white,  with  long  sleeves, 
known  as  the  alb.  At  the  time  of  Augustine,  the 
chasuble  or  plenida,  had  come  into  use,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  worn  during  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
arearium,  or  stole,  was  placed  round  the  neck,  and 
was  enriched  with  an  embroidered  border,  the 
deacon  wearing  it  over  one  shoulder.  The  amice 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         205 

was  a  square  piece  of  linen  which  was  put  over 
the  head  before  the  chasuble  was  put  on,  and 
served  to  protect  it  from  being  soiled.  The  dal- 
matic was  another  over-garment,  and  shaped  like 
a  short  tunic  split  at  the  sides,  which  became  the 
distinctive  vestment  of  the  deacon  at  mass.  A 
little  later  than  the  tenth  century,  the  sub-deacon 
wore  a  tunical,  which  was  a  similar,  but  some- 
what scantier,  vestment.  The  cope  was  simply  a 
cloak.  It  was  originally  a  protection  from  the 
weather.  It  appears  as  a  clerical  vestment  about 
the  end  of  the  ninth  century,  being  worn  in  pro- 
cessions and  in  choir.  The  surplice,  a  shortened 
alb,  which  is  the  most  modern  of  all  vestments, 
came  to  be  used  in  the  saying  of  the  divine  office. 
In  the  Cathedrals,  the  Canons  wore  over  the  sur- 
plice a  short  furred  coat  or  cope.11 

The  priests  were  bidden  to  address  the  people 
on  the  Lord's  Day  in  sermons.  Bishop  Grosseteste, 
1235-1254,  gave  directions  to  his  clergy  to  preach 
on  Sundays,  and  gave  them  the  heads  of  their 
teaching.  Bishop  Exeter  drew  up  a  similar  book 
for  his  clergy,  requiring  every  parish  to  have  a 
copy.  Bishop  Breitingham  of  Exeter  assumed,  in 


Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  191-195. 


206  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

his  directions,  that  a  sermon  was  preached  in  all 
parish  churches  on  Sunday.  Other  Bishops  put 
forth  similar  injunctions.  The  subjects  given  them 
to  preach  upon  by  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Lam- 
beth in  1281  were  the  Fourteen  Articles  of  Faith, 
the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Two  Evangelical  Pre- 
cepts of  Charity,  the  Seven  Works  of  Mercy,  the 
Seven  Deadly  Sins,  and  the  Seven  Sacraments  of 
Grace.  Five  of  these  Sacraments,  it  was  declared, 
ought  to  be  received  by  every  Christian :  Baptism, 
Confirmation,  Penance,  Holy  Eucharist,  and  Ex- 
treme Unction.  The  two  other  Sacraments  of  Or- 
der and  Matrimony  were  for  individual  applica- 
tion. The  prayer  to  be  said  by  the  sick  before 
receiving  unction,  is  declarative  of  the  evangelical 
spirit  found  in  the  Church.  "My  God,  my  God, 
my  mercy  and  my  refuge,  Thee  I  desire,  to  Thee 
I  flee,  to  Thee  I  hasten  to  come.  Despise  me  not, 
placed  in  this  tremendous  crisis,  be  merciful  to 
me  in  these  my  great  necessities.  I  cannot  redeem 
myself  by  my  own  works,  but  do  Thou,  my  God, 
redeem  me,  and  have  mercy  on  me.  I  trust  not  in 
my  merits,  but  I  confide  rather  in  Thy  mercies, 
and  I  trust  more  in  Thy  mercies  than  I  distrust 
my  evil  deeds,  my  faults,  my  great  faults.  Now  I 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         207 

come  to  Thee  because  Thou  failest  none,  I  desire 
to  depart  and  to  be  with  Thee.  Into  Thy  hands, 
O  Lord,  I  commend  my  spirit;  Thou  hast  re- 
deemed me,  O  Lord  God  of  truth.  Amen.  And 
grant  to  me,  my  God,  that  I  may  sleep  and  rest  in 
peace,  who  in  perfect  Trinity  livest  and  reignest 
God,  world  without  end.  Amen.77 

The  priests  had  many  homiletic  books  to  help 
them  in  their  delivery  of  sermons.  Among  them 
were  the  Speculum  Christiana,  by  John  Wotton, 
Parr's  Oculii  Sacerdotis,  put  out  in  the  year  1350, 
and  Libra  Festivalis,  by  John  Myrk.  There  were 
also  works  of  a  spiritual  character  such  as  The 
Prick  of  Conscience,  by  Kichard  the  Hermit,  1349, 
and  the  Speculum,  by  Archbishop  Rich.  The  peo- 
ple were  provided  with  various  books  of  private 
devotions.  There  were  primers,  and  layfolk's  mass 
books,  which  explained  the  meaning  of  the  service 
and  the  ritual.  The  Mirror  of  Our  Ladye,  was  a 
popular  book  with  the  devout  laity." 

WORSHIP  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

There  were  daily  services  in  the  Churches. 
Amongst  the  higher  classes  were  to  be  found  do- 


11  Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  126-240. 
18  Cutts'  Parish  Priests,  249. 


208  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

mestic  chaplains,  who  daily  performed  mass  in  the 
private  chapels.  There  were  altar  lights.  A  law 
of  Edmund  directs  that  a  priest  shall  not  cele- 
brate without  a  light,  not  for  use,  but  as  a  symbol. 
At  low  mass,  one  candle  on  the  Gospel  side  of  the 
altar  was  regarded  as  sufficient.  More  often  two 
wax  candles  were  placed  on  the  altar,  symbolizing 
Christ  in  His  two  natures,  as  Light  of  the  world. 
An  oil  lamp  was  also  bidden  to  be  hung  in  front 
of  the  high  altar  in  honour  of  the  reserved  Sacra- 
ment. A  large  ornamented  wax  light,  called  the 
Paschal  Candle,  was  lit  at  Easter,  and  burnt 
through  the  Easter  season.  It  symbolized  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord.  The  lighting  of  the 
candles,  it  was  written,  was  not  to  dispel  darkness, 
but  to  show  that  the  saints  are  lighted  by  the  light 
of  heaven. 

Beside  the  ritual  lights,  it  was  customary  to 
place  torches  at  funerals  about  the  bier,  symboliz- 
ing the  fact  that  the  souls  of  the  departed  were 
in  the  land  of  light.  It  was  customary,  also,  to 
place  a  chandelier  in  the  church  at  the  Purifica- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  for  the  con- 
gregation to  bring  tapers  with  them.  It  was  this 
custom  that  gave  to  the  Feast  of  the  Purification 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         209 

the  title  of  Candlemas.  The  names  of  those  de- 
parted belonging  to  the  parish  were  read  out  in 
church,  and  the  prayers  of  people  asked  for  the 
repose  of  their  souls.  A  custom  which  united  the 
parishes  together  was  to  make  an  annual  proces- 
sion, if  it  was  not  too  far,  to  the  Cathedral,  or 
mother  church,  carrying  banners,  and  chanting  or 
singing  hymns.  At  Christmas,  in  addition  to  the 
Christmas  services,  there  was  often  a  grotto  ar- 
ranged in  the  church,  with  representation  of  the 
shepherds  and  the  holy  family. 

On  Ash  Wednesday,  there  was  an  office  for 
the  signing  of  the  people  with  ashes.  The  veil- 
ing of  the  rood  took  place  at  Passiontide.  A  pro- 
cession, bearing  palms,  marched  round  the  church- 
yard on  Palm  Sunday,  and  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
was  taken  from  the  high  altar  and  placed  on  a 
special  altar  on  Maundy  Thursday,  where  it  re- 
mained till  Easter.  Whitsunday  was  a  time  espe- 
cially kept  for  baptisms,  and  the  baptized  were  ar- 
rayed in  white  dresses,  a  symbol  of  baptismal  puri- 
fication. The  fields  were  blessed  on  Rogation 
days.  The  festival  of  the  dedication  of  the  parish 
church  was-  yearly  kept.  The  Church  in  her  ser- 
vices became  thus  the  chief  object  of  interest  and 


210  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  bond  of  the  social  life  among  the  parishioners. 

The  devout  priest  of  those  times  looked  upon 
himself  as  the  pastor  of  his  people  and  the  ad- 
ministrator of  the  sacraments.  He  had  not  on  his 
shoulders  the  burden  of  a  modern  parish.  The 
priest  has  now  to  keep  up  the  various  organizations 
associated  with  the  modern  parish,  which  make  it 
like  a  great  mill  with  its  machinery,  in  compari- 
son with  the  old  handlooms  that  stood  by  the  fire- 
side. The  priest  of  our  time  is  so  pressed  with 
the  burden  of  work  that  he  gives  less  time  to  his 
own  spiritual  life  than  did  the  priest  of  old.  The 
mediaeval  priest  said  the  seven  canonical  hours  in 
church.  On  Sundays  and  holy  days,  having  fin- 
ished Terce,  he  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  Thrice 
in  the  year  he  heard  the  regular  confessions  of 
his  people.  Under  some  circumstances,  mass  was 
offered  daily.  There  were  those  who,  striving 
after  greater  holiness,  would  resort  more  frequent- 
ly to  the  tribunal  of  penitence.  There  were  few 
priests  who  did  not  have  some  sort  of  school  for 
the  children  and  communicants'  class  for  the 
adults. 

We  are,  however,  obliged  to  note  that  there 
were  some  abuses  and  evil  customs  which  sprang 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         211 

up  in  those  days.  People  made  the  churchyard  a 
place  of  general  meeting,  and  used  it  for  sports 
of  a  worldly  nature,  so  that  it  was  found  necessary 
to  prohibit  them  by  canon.  There  were  abuses 
by  the  Popes  of  putting  foreigners,  especially  Ital- 
ians, into  English  benefices  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  the  revenues. 

Again,  the  evil  of  pluralities  sprang  up,  and 
Bishop  and  clergy  would  hold  the  revenues  of  sev- 
eral benefices  together.  They  would  farm  them 
out,  taking  the  larger  portion  of  the  income  for 
themselves."  This  corrupt  and  worldly  spirit  in- 
dubitably tended  to  lower  the  spiritual  standard  of 
the  clergy.  What  affected  them  perhaps  still  more 
was  the  endeavor  to  force  celibacy  upon  them.  It 
was  found  not  possible  to  enforce  the  decrees  which 
had  been  made  on  this  subject.  King  Henry  I. 
raised  a  large  revenue  by  permitting  the  clergy  to 
retain  their  wives,  on  payment  of  money  for  a 
license  to  do  so.  Many  of  the  secular  clergy  ar- 
gued that  matrimony  was  a  divine  ordinance, 
whilst  prohibition  of  it  was  only  an  ecclesiastical 
rule.  It  is  well  known  that  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury there  were  many  ecclesiastics  who  had  so- 


14Cutts'  Parish  Priests, 


212  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

called  wives.  Warham,  the  last  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  before  the  Keformation,  is  said  to  have 
had  a  wife,  who  was  not  secluded  from  the  knowl- 
edge and  society  of  his  friends.  Wolsey  and 
Cranmer  had  women  who  stood  to  them  in  the 
same  relation.  This  relation,  however  defensible, 
must  have  lowered  the  clergy's  moral  tone.  Dean 
Colet,  in  his  famous  sermon  preached  at  St. 
Paul's,  1511,  before  Convocation,  sternly  rebuked 
the  faults  of  the  clergy  of  his  day.  He  dwelt  upon 
their  secularity,  worldliness,  and  concupiscence. 
"They  give  themselves  to  feasts  and  banquetings ; 
they  spend  themselves  in  vain  babblings,  they  give 
themselves  to  sports  and  plays,  they  apply  them- 
selves to  hunting  and  hawking.  They  drown 
themselves  in  the  delights  of  the  world."  The 
bold,  fearless  words  must  be  taken  with  some  al- 
lowance. Many  of  these  faults  might  be  seen 
amongst  the  clergy  of  to-day.16  We  may  believe 
that  the  standard  of  clerical  life  in  England  was 
higher  than  on  the  continent,  and  that  on  the 
whole,  with  the  exception  of  concubinage,  the 
clergy  led  moral  lives.19  There  was  nothing  like 

"His.  Ch.  Eng.,  Wakeman,  p.  165. 
16  His.  Ch.  Eng.,  Wakeman,  p.  165. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         213 

the  prevalence  of  evil  lives  and  ignorance  of  the 
clergy  in  the  dioceses  of  the  land  that  marked  the 
advent  there  of  Carlo  Borromeo  at  Milan."  "Re- 
ligion, then,  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  says  Wakeman, 
"played  a  larger  part  in  man's  life  than  it  does 
now.  The  large  number  of  clergy  enabled  much 
more  attention  to  be  given  to  the  wants  of  each 
individual  soul  than  is  possible  nowadays."  For 
those  who  could  not  read,  rhyming  paraphrases  in 
English,  to  be  committed  to  memory,  were  largely 
used.  The  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  story  of 
the  Passion,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Seven 
Deadly  Sins,  the  principal  festivals  and  fasts,  were 
thus  learned  by  heart  by  the  ignorant.  For  the 
more  learned  who  could  read,  and  the  rich  who 
could  buy,  there  was  no  lack  of  books.  The  prim- 
ers were  in  the  hands  of  every  well-educated  man 
or  woman  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies, and  answered  in  no  small  extent  to  our 
Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

Thus  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Church,  teach- 
ing her  children  either  orally  or  by  book,  put  them 
in  possession  of  the  seed-plot  from  which  might 
grow  the  fairest  forms  of  devotional  life.  By  the 


17  The  Reformation,  Cazenove,  p.  34. 


214  THE  LINEAGE. 

creeds,  she  taught  them  the  faith.  In  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, she  pointed  them  to  the  basis  of  all  medita- 
tion. In  prayer,  she  trained  them  in  the  devo- 
tional life.  By  the  Commandments  and  the  list 
of  the  seven  deadly  sins,  she  led  them  to  self- 
examination  and  penitence.  By  her  public  offices 
she  taught  them  due  harmony  of  praise,  of  inter- 
cession, and  of  prayer.  Finally,  in  the  weekly  or 
daily  Eucharist,  she  brought  them  to  renewed  self- 
consecration  in  the  fulness  of  corporate  worship." 


18  His.  Ch.  Eng.j  p.  184,  Wakeman. 


BOOKS  REFERRED  TO  IN  CHAPTER  VII. 

Documents  of  English  Church  History.     Gee  and  Hardy. 

History  of  the  Church  of  England.     Wakeman. 

Latin  Christianity.    Milman. 

Parish  Priests.     Cutts. 

Social  England.    Traill. 

History  of  the  English  Church,  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 

Centuries.    Capes. 
Middle  Ages.    Hallam. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 
THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

WHATEVER  view  one  may  take  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, it  is  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate  its  im- 
portance. It  was  like  an  avalanche,  which  was 
long  preparing  for  its  descent.  It  could  but  come ; 
and  a  small  event  was  enough  to  give  it  instant 
action.  On  the  Continent,  the  immediate  cause 
was  the  sale  of  Indulgences  by  Tetzel ;  in  England, 
the  King's  divorce. 

Christendom  had  already  been  divided  into 
East  and  West,  and  the  two  portions  had  lived 
and  grown  separated  from  each  other.  In  the 
West,  the  papacy  had  been  moved  to  Avignon; 
subsequently,  the  papacy  was  restored  to  Rome. 
It  descended  from  being  an  international  repre- 
sentative, and  became  nationalized.  At  Avignon, 
it  was  a  French  power,  and  the  mouthpiece  of 
French  policy ;  at  Rome  it  became  Italianized,  and 
so  continues  to  the  present  day. 


216  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

The  claims  of  the  papacy  had  not  been  un- 
questioned in  the  Middle  Ages.  Marsiglio  put 
forth  a  powerful  book  called  Defense  Parcis,  about 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  which  denied 
that  St.  Peter  had  had  any  authority  over  the 
other  Apostles,  or  had  ever  been  proved  to  have 
been  Bishop  of  Rome,  or  to  have  given  the  Popes 
a  prerogative  of  government  as  Peter's  successors. 
Wycliffe  had  attacked  the  iniquity  of  the  Popes, 
and  denied  their  right  to  rule.  William  of  Ocham 
had  contended  that  the  Pope,  even  in  discharge  of 
his  spiritual  functions,  was  subject  to  the  general 
voice  of  Christendom.  At  the  Councils  of  Pisa 
and  Constance,  it  was  held  that  the  Church  in 
General  Council  was  superior  to  a  Pope,  and  could 
compel  the  Pope  to  obedience.  The  latter  Council 
authorized  a  new  election,  after  securing  the  depo- 
sition of  two  Popes  and  the  resignation  of  one. 
In  England,  it  was  always  maintained  that  the 
papal  decrees  were  not  binding,  even  on  questions 
of  faith  and  morals,  unless  accepted  by  the  na- 
tional authorities. 

Again:  the  papacy  had  lost  moral  influence 
through  the  luxury  and  sensuality  of  the  papal 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         217 

court.  Its  tyrannous  greed,  in  demanding  the  first 
year's  revenues  of  vacant  bishoprics  and  other  op- 
pressive taxes,  alienated  both  clergy  and  laity. 
This  taxation  was  grievously  felt  by  the  laity  in 
England ;  and  prepared  them  for  a  revolt.  As  we 
have  previously  stated,  the  Pope  had  filled  up  a 
number  of  Sees  with  Italians,  who  never  visited 
England,  but  drew  their  revenues.  In  Europe, 
the  sale  of  indulgences  aroused  the  moral  indigna- 
tion of  the  German  people.  It  was  not  true  that 
the  indulgence  gave  to  its  holder  the  right  to  com- 
mit sin,  but  relieved  him  from  the  punishment 
of  it,  which  is  all  the  sinner  usually  cares  about. 
The  burning  zeal  of  Luther  shook  the  continent 
with  opposition  to  such  an  immoral  practice.  In 
1453,  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  while  it  brought 
disaster  to  the  Eastern  Church,  brought,  through 
its  fugitives,  a  reinforcement  of  classical  literature 
into  Europe.  With  the  discovery  of  printing,  and 
the  renewal  of  classical  learning,  many  had  be- 
come fascinated  with  the  old  pagan  life.  The 
discoveries  of  the  New  World  filled  men  with  a 
spirit  of  enterprise,  and  made  their  hearts  beat 
with  a  golden  vision  of  conquest  and  wealth. 


218  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Popes  themselves  felt  its  influence.  We  read  of  a 
Pope  who,  pointing  to  a  pile  of  gold  coin,  said, 
"You  see  what  this  fable  of  Christianity  brings 
us  in."  These  were  some  of  the  precedent  causes 
of  the  great  forward  movement  which  we  call  the 
Reformation. 

The  further  rent  in  Christendom  caused  by 
the  Reformation  could  not  take  place,  however, 
without  much  harm,  whatever  blessing  might  come 
with  it.  As  Wakeman  says,  "In  the  Church,  divi- 
sion, however  we  may  palliate  it,  is,  after  all,  sin, 
and  carries  with  it  its  consequence  of  sin."  The 
fact  of  the  divisions  of  Christendom  has  been 
amongst  the  great  hindrances  to  the  effective  repre- 
sentation of  the  Gospel.  While  a  reformation  was 
necessary,  a  division  might  have  been  avoided. 
The  Church,  herself,  had  earnestly  demanded  a 
reform.  The  call  had  been  reinforced  by  com- 
mittees of  cardinals,  who  demanded  a  reform; 
both  in  the  head  and  in  the  members  of  the 
Church.  As  the  papacy  would  not  lead  in  the  way 
of  reform,  it  had  to  come  in  other  ways.  Looked 
at  in  its  political  aspects,  the  Reformation  was  a 
part  of  a  great  general  movement  towards  liberty, 
freedom,  and  the  better  government  of  mankind. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         219 

In  England,  the  movement  began  under  Henry 
VIII.  and  his  parliament,  as  a  political  one. 
There  were  antecedent  causes,  as  we  have  seen, 
but  the  king's  matrimonial  scheme  was  the  match 
that  touched  the  magazine  and  caused  the  explo- 
sion. In  England,  on  its  religious  side,  it  was  a 
removal  of  erroneous  accretions  of  doctrine,  and 
so  a  reformation,  not  a  revolution. 

On  the  Continent,  it  had  first  of  all  a  religious 
aspect.  It  was  a  revolt  against  the  immorality  of 
the  papacy  and  the  sale  of  indulgences.  It  was 
also  a  gospel  desire  for  justification  by  a  living 
faith,  in  place  of  a  formal  observance  of  sacra- 
mental ordinances.  In  England,  the  Church,  ex- 
pressing her  mind  through  her  convocations, 
passed,  in  1534,  a  resolution  that  "the  Bishop  of 
Home  hath  not  by  Scripture  any  greater  authority 
over  the  Church  of  England  than  any  other  for- 
eign Bishop."  It  thus  denied  anew,  what  it  had 
denied  ever  since  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  that 
the  Pope  had  a  supremacy,  spiritual  or  temporal, 
over  the  Church  of  England,  in  virtue  of  anything 
declared  in  Holy  Scripture.  This  was  made  effec- 
tive by  Act  of  Parliament,  forbidding  all  appeals 
from  English  courts  to  the  papacy. 


220  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

THE  DIVORCE. 

Here  we  may  observe  why  the  King  was  per- 
sonally interested  in  the  passing  of  measures  re- 
strictive of  the  papacy.  It  was  necessary  for  the 
king's  purposes  to  secure  an  acknowledged  legal 
separation  from  Queen  Catherine.  He  had  been 
told  by  Cranmer,  who  was  an  ecclesiastical  canon- 
ist, that  he  had  a  good  case.  "It  would  have  to 
be  legally  presumed,"  Cranmer  said,  "whatever 
Catherine  herself,  as  an  interested  party,  might 
say,  that  her  marriage  with  his  brother  Arthur 
was  consummated."  Consequently,  the  marriage 
with  Henry,  being  against  the  Divine  Law,  ac- 
cording to  the  opinion  of  most  theologians,  could 
not  have  been  allowed  by  the  Pope.  A  former 
Pope,  Innocent  III.,  had  said  that  "in  decrees 
prohibited  by  Divine  Law  a  dispensation  cannot 
be  given."  The  Pope  had,  however,  undertaken  to 
dispense  this  marriage,  for  Catherine  had  a  bull 
in  which  the  Pope  had  granted  permission  for  her 
marriage  with  Henry,  though  perhaps  her  mar- 
riage with  Arthur  had  been  consummated.  The 
Pope  had  thus  undertaken  to  do  what  most  theo- 
logians held  was  beyond  his  power.  The  papal 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         221 

dispensation  for  Henry's  marriage  to  Catherine, 
therefore,  being  invalid,  the  marriage  was  not 
merely  voidable,  but  "void,"  ab  initio.  Cranmer 
stated  that  this  judgment  would  be  the  decision  of 
the  court.  But  what  was  to  be  guarded  against 
was  Catherine's  appeal  to  the  Pope,  who  would  be 
bound  to  hear  the  case;  for  he,  being  under  the 
control  of  Charles  V.,  the  German  Emperor,  uncle 
of  Catherine,  would  reverse  the  English  decision. 
Thus  Henry,  through  his  parliament,  reaffirmed 
the  old  laws  of  the  kingdom,  which  forbade  all 
appeals  to  the  Pope.  Therefore,  while  a  great  and 
cruel  injustice  was  done  to  Queen  Catherine,  the 
Church  and  nation  thereby  recovered  their  na- 
tional rights  and  pre-Norman  independence. 

Some  Romans  have  tried  to  prove  the  Pope 
in  this  matter  the  upholder  of  the  sanctity  and 
indissolubility  of  marriage.  Here  we  quote  from 
Brinckman :  "But,  while  Clement  gave  his  legates 
a  special  commission  in  the  form  of  a  decretal, 
in  which  he  declared  the  marriage  of  Henry  and 
Catherine  null  and  void,  and  authorized  them  to 
give  judgment  for  the  king  and  notified  the  king 
by  a  Papal  Brief  what  he  had  done  in  the  matter, 


222  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  Pope  at  the  same  time  gave  the  legates  secret 
instruction  to  burn  the  decretal  letter  embodying 
the  commission,  and  charged  them  on  no  account 
to  act  upon  it."  However  badly  the  king,  and  all 
the  parties  concerned,  came  out  of  this  miserable 
business,  the  Pope  himself  is  far  from  being 
blameless. 

THE  CHURCH'S  CONTINUITY. 

There  are  some  popular  errors  in  regard  to 
the  Reformation  to  be  noted.  It  is  a  habit  of 
Roman  controversialists  to  say  the  "Church  of 
England  was  founded  by  Henry  VIII."  That 
is  an  historical  misstatement  that  dies  hard,  but 
is,  nevertheless,  untrue.  "Nothing,"  says  the 
great  historian,  Professor  Freeman  of  Oxford, 
"was  further  from  the  mind  of  either  King  Henry 
VIII.  or  Elizabeth.  Neither  of  them  ever 
thought  for  a  minute  of  establishing  a  new 
Church."  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  a  letter  to  a 
Roman  Catholic  Princess  of  Europe,  asserted  that 
"there  was  no  new  faith  propagated  in  England; 
no  new  religion  set  up  but  that  which  was  com- 


1  Anglican   Brief,    p.    308 :      Catherine   of  Aragon,   Froude, 
07,  C9,  84,  and  85. 

2  Disestablishment  and  Disendowment,  Freeman,  21-26. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         223 

manded  by  our  Saviour,  practised  by  the  primitive 
Church,  and  approved  by  the  Fathers."  Arch- 
bishop Bramhall  thus  expressed  our  position: 
"We  do  not  arrogate  to  ourselves  a  new  Church, 
or  new  religion,  or  new  orders.  Our  religion  is 
the  same  as  it  was,  our  Church  is  the  same,  our 
Holy  Orders  the  same."  The  administrative 
power  of  Rome  was  in  the  king's  way,  and  he 
swept  it  aside;  but  at  heart  and  in  religion  he 
was  a  Roman  Catholic.  He  had  persons  burnt  for 
not  believing  in  transubstantiation.  He  died,  leav- 
ing a  will  providing  for  masses  to  be  said  for 
his  soul. 

Another  popular  error  is  that  the  Reforma- 
tion under  King  Henry  was  a  casting  off  of  the 
Catholic  Faith,  and  the  adoption  of  what  is  popu- 
larly known  as  "Protestantism."  Protestantism  is 
both  schismatical  and  heretical.  It  rejects  Church 
authority  and  the  Gospel's  sacramental  system. 
Mr.  Gladstone  said:  "I  can  find  no  trace  of  the 
opinion,  which  is  now  common  in  the  minds  of 
unthinking  persons,  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  was  abolished  in  England  at  the  period 
of  the  Reformation  and  that  a  Protestant  Church 


3  Life  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Camden,  Book  1,  p.  32. 


224  THE   LINEAGE   OF 

was  put  in  its  place.  The  Church  of  England  is 
the  same  Church  that  existed  from  the  beginning. 
There  was  no  new  Church  created  and  endowed 
by  King  Henry." 4  Sir  Kobert  Phillimore,  a 
noted  legal  authority,  said:  "It  is  not  only  a  re- 
ligious, but  a  legal  error,  to  say  that  a  new  Church 
was  introduced  into  the  realm  at  the  time  of  the 
Eeformation.  It  is  no  less  the  language  of  our 
law  than  our  divinity  that  the  old  Church  was  re- 
stored, and  not  a  new  one  instituted." 

Again,  it  is  sometimes  ignorantly  asserted  that 
the  Church  separated  from  Rome.  Now  we  did 
not  separate  from  Rome,  but  Rome  separated  from 
us.  The  Church  before  the  Reformation  was  al- 
ways known  as  the  Ecclesia  Anglicana,  or  the 
Church  of  England.  She  continued  to  exist  at 
the  Reformation  as  the  same  identical  Church  as 
she  was  before.  No  division  took  place  during  the 
period  of  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI., 
and  Mary.  The  people  all,  whatever  their  views, 
worshipped  together  as  one  Christian  body.  But 
in  1570,  the  Pope,  excommunicating  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, called  on  his  followers  to  leave  the  old 
Church.  Some  did  so,  and  it  was  not  until  1854, 


The  State  in  Its  Relation  to  the  Church,  p.  127. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         223 

nearly  three  hundred  years  later,  that  the  Eomans 
were  organized  into  dioceses.  This  schismatical 
body  is  commonly  known  as  the  Italian  Mission. 
"We  are  a  new  mission,"  says  Father  Humphreys, 
S.J.,  "straight  from  Borne"  (Humphreys'  Divine 
Teacher,  p.  54). 

Thus  we  see  how  the  Anglican  Church,  while 
rejecting  the  papacy,  holds  the  ancient  faith,  essen- 
tially the  same  as  it  was  held  in  Apostolic  times; 
and  by  the  Celtic,  the  Saxon,  and  the  Eastern 
Churches  and  undivided  Christendom.  The 
Church,  in  all  that  she  did  in  England,  asserted 
that  her  members  were  Catholics — she  was  main- 
taining the  Catholic  Faith.  Thus,  in  the  statute 
passed,  the  twenty-fifth  of  Henry  VIII.,  it  was 
denied  that  the  sanction  of  the  Pope  was  essential 
to  the  validity  of  the  consecration  of  Bishops  and 
to  the  valid  celebration  of  the  sacraments.  But 
this  denial  was  based  on  the  verified,  historical 
fact  that  "divers  Archbishops  and  Bishops  have 
heretofore  in  ancient  times  been  so  consecrated, 
and  they  asserted  that  they  were  as  obedient,  de- 
vout Catholics,  and  humble  children  of  God,  as 
any  people  within  any  Christian  realm." 


226  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

THE  REFORMERS  AND  THEIR  PRINCIPLES. 

There  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  amongst 
partisans  concerning  the  character  and  the  motives 
of  the  reformers.  They  differed  amongst  them- 
selves. But  they  have  passed  to  the  judgment 
seat  of  God,  and  the  duty  is  not  imposed  on  us 
of  passing  judgment  on  them.  It  is  both  wise  and 
charitable  to  avoid  exaggerated  expressions.  All 
that  Anglican  Churchmen  are  practically  con- 
cerned with  is  the  work  they  accomplished  and 
the  avowed  principles  of  their  action. 

In  the  reforms  she  made,  history  shows  that 
the  Church  appealed  for  her  guidance  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  as  interpreted  by  the  Fathers,  and  the 
ancient  Councils,  and  sought  to  maintain  the  faith 
as  it  had  been  held  in  the  Church  from  the  be- 
ginning. She  appealed  thus  to  Holy  Scripture 
as  corroborated  by  tradition.  The  Convocation  of 
1571  declared  that  athe  clergy  should  never  teach 
anything  to  be  believed  by  the  people  but  what  is 
agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  and  collected  out  of  that  very  doctrine 
by  the  Catholic  Fathers  and  ancient  Bishops."  ~No 
new  Church  was  founded.  "The  continuity  of  the 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         227 

Church,"  says  Aubrey  Moore,  in  his  very  able 
work,  "was  as  true  and  real  as  the  continuity  of 
the  nation." 

I. — CATHOLIC  DOCTKINE. 

On  its  religious  side,  the  movement  did  not 
begin  with  favoring  Protestantism.  In  1529,  when 
the  movement  is  said  to  have  originated  in  the 
Reformation  Parliament,  as  it  was  called,  Con- 
vocation forbade  the  circulation  of  the  works  of 
Wycliffe,  Knox,  Luther,  Zwingli,  and  the  English 
Tyndall.  The  only  authoritative  doctrinal  formu- 
laries put  forth  in  King  Henry's  reign  were  the 
Ten  Articles  and  a  book  called  A  Necessary  Doc- 
trine and  Erudition  for  Any  Christian  Man.  This 
book  was  put  forth  in  1543,  by  the  authority  of 
Convocation.  It  set  forth  the  Creed,  the  Seven  Sac- 
raments, the  Decalogue,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Hail 
Mary,  and  the  four  articles  of  Justification,  good 
works,  and  prayers  for  the  departed.  It  held  the 
doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence,  and  the  Sacrament 
of  the  Altar,  and  the  validity  of  receiving  it  in 
one  kind,  and  the  duty  of  fasting  Communion. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  we  have  the  first 
Prayer  Book  put  forth.  It  was  drawn  up  by  a 
jcommission  consisting  of  an  Archbishop,  six  Bish- 


228  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

ops,  and  six  Doctors  of  Divinity.  It  had  the  au- 
thority of  parliament  and  the  Church.  It  "was 
accepted  by  Convocation,"  as  Bishop  Stubbs  re- 
marks. It  was  not  a  new  book,  but  one  composed 
out  of  materials  previously  existing.  These  were 
the  old  Service  Books,  including  the  rites  neces- 
sary for  the  other  Sacraments,  as  well  as  the  Holy 
Eucharist ;  the  Pontificale,  containing  the  Ordinal, 
and  others.  In  this  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI., 
the  Holy  Communion  was  called  the  Mass.  The 
words  of  administration  were  the  first  sentence 
of  the  present  form.  This  was  meant  to  mean  a 
recognition  of  the  Eeal  Presence.  The  ancient  rit- 
ual was  practically  unchanged.  The  priest  wore 
the  Eucharistic  vestments,  which  symbolized  the 
ancient  Eucharistic  doctrine.  By  the  ordinal  the 
three  orders  of  Bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  were 
continued.  The  power  to  ordain  or  consecrate  was 
shown  to  lie  with  the  Bishops,  who  alone  could 
give  valid  orders.  The  Anglican  Church,  in  the 
interests  of  the  Faith,  recast  her  ordinal.  It  was 
with  the  intention,  as  is  seen  by  the  office  itself,  to 
hand  on  that  divine  succession  of  an  Apostolic 
ministry  and  priesthood,  which  she  believed  her 
Bishops  and  orders  then  possessed. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         229 

About  this  time  was  put  forth  what  is  com- 
monly known  as  "Cranmer's  Catechism."  It  was 
a  translation,  and  is  chiefly  noticeable  as  showing 
what  Cranmer's  views  were  at  this  time.  It  is  the 
latest  expression  of  them.  The  Real  Presence,  the 
Power  of  the  Keys,  and  the  Apostolic  Succession 
are  all  plainly  affirmed.  We  may  omit  dwelling 
on  the  later  four  years  of  Edward's  reign,  at 
which  period  there  was  an  influx  of  foreign  Prot- 
estants, whose  object  was  to  conform  the  doctrines 
of  the  Church  of  England  to  the  sects  of  Zurich 
and  Geneva.  They  effected,  however,  very  little. 
But  it  was  under  their  influence  that  a  second 
Prayer  Book  was  compiled.  It  is  a  comfort  to 
find,  however,  that  "this  Prayer  Book  never  had 
the  slightest  claim  to  ecclesiastical  authority."  It 
cannot  even  plead  acceptance  by  the  Church,  for 
it  was  only  in  force  about  eight  months,  and  proba- 
bly it  was  never  used  at  all  in  many  parts  of  Eng- 
land. It  was  one  of  the  most  signal  blessings  of 
God  on  the  English  Church  that  Edward  VI.,  "the 
young  tiger  cub,"  was  early  taken  away.  The  lov- 
ing presence  of  God,  watching  over  the  Anglican 
Communion,  thus  preserved  it  in  Catholicity. 


230  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

THE  INTERLUDE. 

Mary  succeeded  Edward,  and  the  Church  and 
nation  were  reconciled  to  the  papacy.  Then,  after 
five  years,  Elizabeth  succeeded,  and  in  her  time 
the  Prayer  Book  was  put  forth  by  the  Church's 
authority,  and  secured  for  ever  to  the  Church  the 
liturgy  in  the  common  tongue.  This  is  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  derived  from  the  Reformation. 

CONSECRATION  OF  PARKER. 

In  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  orders  and  the  faith 
and  the  continuity  of  the  Church  were  preserved. 
Cardinal  Pole,  who  was  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, was  dead  when  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne, 
and  Matthew  Parker  was  legally  and  validly  con- 
secrated as  Archbishop.  Roman  Catholics,  now 
ashamed  of  their  attacks  upon  the  fact  of  his 
consecration,  have  granted  that,  according  to  the 
register  preserved  at  Lambeth,  Parker  was  con- 
secrated on  December  17,  1559.  We  have  full  and 
minute  accounts  given  in  the  Lambeth  Register. 

There  was  a  foolish  story  started  forty-five 
years  after  the  event,  by  Romans,  denying  the  fact 
of  Parker's  consecration,  and  which  was  known 
as  the  Nag's  Head  fable.  It  has  of  late  years 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.          231 

been  apologized  for  and  repudiated  by  Roman 
authorities. 

In  the  Civita  Cattolica,  the  organ  of  the  Pope, 
we  find  it  said,  "Let  us  admit  the  falsity  of  the 
Nag's  Head  fable,  and  deplore  its  use  as  an  argu- 
ment to  cast  doubt  on  Anglican  orders."  Objec- 
tions to  the  consecration  of  Parker  on  the  part 
of  Eomanists  have  now  ceased,  and  have  been 
apologized  for.  There  was  no  doubt  of  the  fact  of 
his  consecration. 

The  Earl  of  Nottingham,  a  Eoman  Catholic 
and  a  relative  of  Parker's,  declared  that  he  was 
present  at  the  service.  "There  are  at  least  nine 
distinct  contemporary  official  and  authentic  docu- 
ments to  prove  it." 

Parker  was  consecrated  by  four  Bishops — 
Barlow,  Hodgkins,  Scory,  and  Coverdale.  Bar- 
low and  Hodgkins  had  been  consecrated  by  the 
old  Roman  Ordinal.  One  of  Barlow's  consecrators 
was  Clerk,  Bishop  of  Bath,  who  in  his  turn  de- 
rived succession  from  Italian  Bishops.  The 
king's  mandate  for  Barlow's  consecration  is  still 
in  existence,  and  also  it  is  of  record  that  he  was 
installed  and  enthroned  in  his  See.  He  was  in- 


6  Anglican  Orders  and  Roman  Claims,  p.  29. 


232  THE   LINEAGE   OF 

volved  in  many  legal  contests,  and  his  being  a 
Bishop  was  never  questioned.  Moreover,  he  took 
his  seat  and  voted  in  the  House  of  Lords,  which 
he  could  not  have  done  unless  it  had  been  certified 
that  he  had  been  consecrated.  His  consecration 
has  been  fully  vindicated  by  Courrayer,  Mason, 
Bramhall,  Haddon,  and  Lingard.  De  Augustinis, 
of  great  renown  as  a  modern  Roman  theologian, 
in  the  late  Conference  about  Anglican  Orders, 
said:  "Barlow  was  unquestionably  a  true 
Bishop." 

As  for  Scory,  who  was  consecrated  under  the 
Edwardine  Ordinal  in  1551,  he  had  conformed 
and  acted  in  Mary's  reign  as  Suffragan  Bishop 
of  London.9  This  would  show  that  the  Edwardine 
Ordinal  was  accepted  by  Roman  authority  as  valid. 

Through  his  consecration,  Parker's  succession 
is  thus  traceable  up  to  Archbishop  Theodore,  who 
was  consecrated  (668)  by  Pope  Vitalianus.7  Mat- 


«Bonner's  Register,  fol.  347,  July  14,  1554. 

7  There  were  many  other  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  con- 
secrated by  Popes  or  Cardinals:  Theodore,  at  Rome,  by  Pope 
Vitalianus,  A.  D.  668.  Northelm,  at  Rome,  by  Gregory  II.,  736. 
Lambert,  at  Rome,  by  Paul  I.,  763.  Wulfred,  at  Rome,  by  Leo 
XIII.,  803.  Celnotus,  at  Rome,  by  Gregory  VI.,  830.  Athelard, 
at  Rome,  by  Adrian  II.,  863.  Plegmund,  at  Rome,  by  Formosus, 
891.  Richard  at  Avignon,  by  Alexander  III.,  1174.  Stephen 
Langton,  at  Viterbo,  by  Innocent  III.,  1207.  Boniface  at  Lyons, 
by  Innocent  IV.,  1244.  John  Peckham,  at  Rome,  by  Nicholas 
III.,  1278.  Henry  Chichele,  at  Sens,  by  Alexander  V.,  1409. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         233 

thew  Parker,  in  tracing  thus  his  succession  back 
to  the  Archbishop  Theodore,  also  does  so  to  that 
old  Saxon  succession  whose  Bishops  united  under 
Theodore. 

Along  with  Matthew  Parker,  we  must  consider 
the  case  of  Archbishop  Laud,  who  was  one  of  his 
successors.  He  not  only  received  his  consecration 
through  the  old  Anglo-Roman  line  of  Parker,  but 
through  the  Irish  line  of  Bishops.  For  at  the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  some  of  the  Irish  Bishops 
conformed — all  but  two,  it  is  said.  The  record  is 
as  follows:  St.  Patrick  was  Archbishop  of  Ar- 
magh in  432.  Christopher  Hampton,  in  1613,  was 
the  ninety-second  Archbishop  from  him.  He  con- 
secrated the  English  Bishop  Thomas  Morton  in 
1616,  Bishop  of  Chester,  who  consecrated  John 
Howson,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  in  1619,  who,  in  1621, 
consecrated  Laud.8 

Laud  also  received  the  Episcopate  through  the 
modern  or  Italian  line.  Mark  Anthony,  Arch- 
Robert  Winchelsea,  consecrated  by  Gerard,  Cardinal  of  Sabina, 
1294.  Simon  Mepeham,  consecrated  by  Peter  Cardinal  Prae- 
neste,  1348.  John  de  Stratford,  consecrated  by  Vitalis  Cardinal 
Albano,  as  Bishop  of  Winchester,  1323.  Thomas  Bradwardin, 
consecrated  by  Bertrand,  Cardinal  of  St.  Mark,  Archbishop  of 
Embrun,  1349. 

8  Moore,  The  Reformation,  p.  280 ;  Macbeth,  Ireland  and 
Her  Church,  166.  168. 


234  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

bishop  of  Spalatro,  Italy,  joined  the  Church  oi 
England,  and  was  appointed  Dean  of  Windsor. 
He,  with  others,  consecrated  George  Monteigne  in 
1617  as  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  consecrated  the 
Bishop  of  London  in  1621,  who  consecrated  Laud. 

We  have  also  seen  how  the  Patriarch  of  Jeru- 
salem in  the  sixth  century  consecrated  St.  David. 
This  Welsh  line  became  in  1115  united  to  the 
English  Church  under  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. William  Murray,  the  Archbishop  of  Llan- 
daff,  was,  with  Archbishop  Laud,  a  consecrator  in 
1634  of  Bishop  Wren  of  Hereford,  and  from  Wren 
and  Laud  all  our  present  English  and  American 
Bishops  have  their  spiritual  descent.  Our  Angli- 
can Episcopacy  is  thus  derived  from  Roman,  Irish, 
Welsh,  and  Eastern  sources,  the  validity  of  whose 
orders  has  never  been  disputed. 

In  the  consecration  of  Matthew  Parker,  it  is 
of  record  that  all  four  Bishops  laid  on  their  hands, 
and  invoking  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  said  the  words 
of  consecration,  the  order  being  designated  in  the 
service.  Thus  the  four  acted  as  co-consecrators. 
This  shows  the  great  care  that  was  taken  to  vali- 
date their  action. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         235 

The  matter  and  form  of  Parker's  consecration 
as  attested  by  the  ancient  liturgies  was  valid.  Our 
Lord  had  given  no  one  form  as  He  had  in  respect 
of  the  sacrament  of  Baptism.  There  was  no  one 
form  that  had  been  universally  used  in  the  Church. 
The  Roman  ordinal  was  obscure,  and  it  could  not 
be  told  with  certainty  when  the  ordinand  was  or- 
dained priest.  It  was  therefore  within  the  rights 
of  the  National  Church,  having  expressed  her  in- 
tention to  continue  the  orders  as  they  anciently 
were,  to  improve  her  ordinal.  She  preserved  in  it 
all  that  was  necessary  for  the  conveyance  of  or- 
ders. There  was  the  laying-on  of  the  Bishops' 
hands,  with  the  designation  in  the  service  of  the 
order  to  be  conveyed,  and  with  prayer  and  invoca- 
tion of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  intention  of  the  con- 
secrators  was  to  do  that  which  the  Church  pro- 
posed to  be  done.  This  is  all  that  Cardinal  Bel- 
larmine  says  is  necessary.  The  Church  in  her 
preface  to  her  ordinal  explicitly  stated  that  her 
intention  by  it  was  that  the  ancient  orders  should 
be  continued.  The  consecrators  could  not,  by  their 
own  private  opinion,  if  they  had  any,  alter  the  in- 
tention of  the  Church  of  which  they  were  the 
agents.  Moreover,  as  de  Augustinis  held,  "It  is 


236  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

not  necessary  for  the  minister  to  intend  to  produce 
the  effect  or  end  of  the  sacrament,  but  only  to  do 
what  the  Church  orders  to  be  done."  Thus  the 
consecrators  had  a  right  intention,  and  the  matter 
and  form  were  correct. 

As  to  Matthew  Parker 's  jurisdiction,  like  all 
other  Bishops,  habitual  or  potential  jurisdiction  is 
conveyed  by  the  consecration.  Actual  jurisdiction 
is  the  limitation  of  that  which  is  inherent  by  con- 
secration, and  it  limits  the  exercise  of  spiritual 
powers  to  certain  places  and  over  certain  persons. 
It  is  regulated  by  canon  law.  This  right  to  exer- 
cise Episcopal  authority  in  a  certain  locality,  or 
over  certain  persons,  flows  back  on  the  death  of  its 
Bishop  into  the  See,  subject  to  the  confirmation  of 
the  Bishops  of  the  Province,  or,  in  the  case  of  an 
Archbishop,  it  goes  to  his  comprovincials.  On 
Elizabeth's  succession  there  were  nine  Bishops 
who  were  in  canonical  possession  of  their  Sees, 
and  all  these,  except  two,  accepted  Matthew  Par- 
ker as  their  Archbishop.  None  of  the  uncanoni- 
cally  intruded  Marian  Bishops  made  any  formal 
protest.  So  Parker's  jurisdiction  was  confirmed. 

We  Anglicans  know  that  we  are  possessed  of 
orders,  and  real  sacraments,  and  therefore  have  a 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         237 

true  priesthood.  The  truth  of  our  orders  rests  not 
only  on  an  historical  argument,  but  on  their  spir- 
itual effects.  Their  enlightening  power  and  saint- 
ly-making efficacy  demonstrate  to  us,  their  recipi- 
ents, their  validity.  When  the  Pope  lately  denied 
the  validity  of  our  orders,  he  declared  what  we 
know  with  divine  certainty  to  be  untrue,  and 
proved  he  was  not  infallible. 

WOESHIP  AND  CEREMONIAL. 

The  English  Church  thus  preserves  the  Priest- 
hood, the  three  Holy  Orders,  the  ancient  Faith  as 
set  forth  in  the  Creeds  and  in  the  undisputed 
Councils.  She  preserved  the  ancient  worship  and 
ceremonial,  which  the  Ornaments  rubric  of  1661 
authorizes.  As  we  of  the  American  Church  are 
not  very  familiar  with  this  rubric,  we  here  quote 
it  in  full:  "And  here  it  is  to  be  noted  that  such 
Ornaments  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Ministers 
thereof  at  all  times  of  their  ministration,  shall  be 
retained  and  be  in  use,  as  were  in  this  Church  of 
England  by  the  authority  of  Parliament,  in  the 
second  year  of  the  reign  of  King  Edward  VI." 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  this  rubric  was  not 
merely  the  republication  of  a  former  rubric;  but 


238  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

by  the  introduction  of  new  words  it  has  the  legal 
character  of  a  new  law,  the  legal  effect  of  which, 
as  Justice  Coleridge  said,  was  to  "wipe  out  all  the 
intervening  legislation,  and  to  establish  for  the 
Church's  Ornaments  those  which  were  legalized  at 
the  time  specified."9  These  were  the  Eucharistic 
vestments  of  amice,  alb,  girdle,  stole,  chasuble,  sur- 
plice and  cope  for  priests;  and  mitres  and  other 
regalia  for  Bishops;  and  the  use  of  lights  on  the 
altar,  and  incense,  etc.  Thus  the  Ornaments  Ru- 
bric provided  for  the  use  of  the  old  ceremonial. 
We  know  that  Queen  Elizabeth  had  on  the  altar 
in  her  private  chapel  a  silver  crucifix,  candlesticks, 
images  of  St.  Mary  and  St.  John.  There  were 
also  a  surpliced  choir,  priests  in  copes,  and  Eu- 
charistic vestments  were  worn  by  her  chaplain; 
also  the  great  Bishop  Andrewes,  in  his  own  chapel, 
used  the  same.  The  Anointing  of  the  Sick,  ac- 
cording to  the  injunction  of  St.  James  in  the  New 
Testament,  was  provided  for  in  the  First  Prayer 
Book  of  Edward  VI.  The  Eubric  reads  thus :  "If 
the  sick  person  desire  to  be  anointed,  then  shall 
the  priest  anoint  him  upon  the  forehead  or  breast, 
making  the  sign  of  the  cross;  and  we  pray  that 


9  Hierugia  Anglicana,  Part  I. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         239 

God  may  restore  him  to  bodily  health,  and  release 
him  from  all  troubles  and  diseases  both  of  body 
and  mind."  In  the  book,  by  V.  Staley,  Hierugia 
Anglicana,  we  can  see  how  these  usages  were  con- 
tinued in  subsequent  times. 

DOCTKINE  OF  THE  REAL  PRESENCE. 

The  Church  was  no  less  careful  in  preserving 
the  ancient  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ 
in  the  Holy  Eucharist.  There  had  been  some 
question  in  the  Church  as  to  the  right  interpreta- 
tion of  her  formularies.  The  Zwinglian  theory 
that  the  communion  was  but  a  memorial  service 
had  obtained  but  little  acceptance,  yet  the  Calvin- 
istic  theory  had  received  some  encouragement. 
Calvin,  having  lost  the  priesthood,  was  compelled 
to  assert  that  consecration  was  unnecessary,  and  he 
held  consistently  that  the  elements  were  not 
changed  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  They 
were  only  set  apart,  he  affirmed,  as  holy  things. 
On  the  delivery  of  them  to  the  faithful  believers, 
Christ's  Body  and  Blood  were,  however,  simultan- 
eously given  to  them.  The  Presence  depended  thus 
upon  the  faith  of  the  receiver,  not  on  the  conse- 
cration by  the  priest.  This  teaching  is  known  as 


240  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  theory  of  Reception.     It  is  technically  called 
virtualism. 

Calvin's  theory  had  been  contradicted,  how- 
ever, by  the  28th  Article  of  Religion,  which  said 
that  the  "Body  was  given  and  taken  and  eaten  in 
the  Supper,  after  a  heavenly  and  spiritual  man- 
ner." If  Christ  be  not  in  the  Priest's  hands  as  he 
holds  the  consecrated  bread  before  the  communi- 
cant, and  says,  "This  is  My  Body,"  how  can  he  be 
said  to  give  the  Christ?  And  if  Christ  be  not  in 
the  communicant's  hand  as  he  receives  that  from 
the  priest,  how  can  he  be  said  to  take  Christ  ?  It 
was  because  Christ  was  present  in  the  Sacrament 
by  virtue  of  the  consecration  that  the  communi- 
cants were  bidden  to  leave  their  seats,  to  come  for- 
ward and  kneel  down,  and  in  that  posture  of  de- 
votion receive  the  Sacrament.  But  questions 
arising,  the  Church  herself  pronounced  judgment 
upon  the  opposing  theories  and  condemned  Zwing- 
lianism  and  Calvinism.  This  she  did  officially 
by  making  additions  to  her  Catechism  in  the  year 
1604;  the  last  portion  of  the  Catechism,  on  the 
Sacraments,  being  written  by  Bishop  Overall, 
whose  belief  in  the  Real  Objective  Presence  of 
Christ  in  the  Sacrament  is  well  known. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         241 

In  the  Catechism  it  is  stated  that  baptism  is 
an  "outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and 
spiritual  grace  given  unto  us."  Baptism  is  an 
act  which  consists  thus  of  two  parts.  The  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  has  three  things  said 
of  it.  First,  it  is  an  outward  and  visible  sign,  and 
secondly  an  Inward  Thing,  which  is  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ,  which  are  verily  and  indeed  re- 
ceived by  the  faithful,  and  thirdly,  a  grace  which 
follows  faithful  reception.  The  difference  be- 
tween Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  is,  that  in 
Baptism  there  is  no  necessary  consecration  of  the 
element,  or  change  made  in  respect  of  it ;  whereas 
in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  a  change  takes  place,  so 
that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  which  is  the 
inward  part  or  Thing,  is  given  by  the  priest  and 
taken  by  the  faithful.  Thus  the  Church  herself 
pronounced  that  her  doctrine  was  that  which  is 
called  the  "Keal  Objective  Presence  of  Christ." 

And  here  we  would  reverently  make  a  state- 
ment which  may  help  souls  to  realize  this  great 
mystery  of  Christ's  Presence.  The  unfortunate 
blunders  and  mistakes  theologians  have  been  led 
into  have  come  in  a  large  measure  from  arguing 
about  the  Presence  in  the  Sacrament  as  if  it  were 


242  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

something  taking  place  in  the  ordinary  natural  ma- 
terial order  of  things.  It  is  an  action  on  Christ's 
part  which  takes  place  in  the  spiritual  organism  of 
the  Church,  and  is  governed  by  laws  of  its  own. 
Christ  stands  in  the  midst  of  His  Church  ever 
present  to  all  the  members  of  it.  He  does  not  have 
to  move  locally  in  order  to  manifest  Himself  in 
any  portion  of  His  Mystical  Body.  "Our  Lord," 
says  Cardinal  Newman,  declaring  the  present  Ko- 
man  doctrine,  "neither  descends  from  Heaven 
upon  our  altars,  nor  moves  when  carried  in  pro- 
cession. The  visible  species  change  their  position, 
but  He  does  not  move.  We  can  only  say  He  is 
present,  not  according  to  the  natural  manner  of 
bodies,  but  sacramentally.  His  Presence  is  sub- 
stantial, spirit-wise,  and  sacramentally,  an  absolute 
mystery." 

Christ,  at  the  time  of  the  Institution,  took  the 
elements  into  His  hands,  and  gathered  them  into 
sacramental  union  with  Himself.  And  now,  ever 
present  and  standing  in  the  Church,  through  His 
ministers  who  act  as  His  agents,  He  does  the  same 
thing.  This  tremendous  act  of  loving  condescen- 
sion demands  from  us  an  acknowledgment  by  wor- 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         243 

ship:  and  our  act  of  adoration  has  for  its  object, 
not  the  elements,  but  the  divine  Person. 

As  one  proof  that  there  was  no  denial  of  the 
Catholic  Faith  by  the  English  Church  at  the 
Reformation,  we  note  that  out  of  nine  thousand 
clergy  who  said  Mass  under  Queen  Mary,  only 
some  two  hundred  or  two  hundred  fifty  beneficed 
clergy  refused  to  conform  at  the  accession  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  promulgation  of  the  new 
Prayer  Book.  As  at  least  a  large  number  of  these 
Marian  priests  conformed,  we  cannot  suppose  that 
there  was  anything  in  the  new  Prayer  Book  that 
they  regarded  as  denying  the  Catholic  Faith,  or  as 
making  a  new  religion.  It  seems  to  be  an  histori- 
cal fact  that  the  Pope  himself  offered  to  accept  the 
changes,  and  was  willing  to  allow  the  use  of  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  if  Queen  Elizabeth 
would  only  acknowledge  his  supremacy.10  We  see 
in  all  this  how  the  Anglican  Church,  while  reject- 
ing the  papacy,  and  rejecting  it  now  more  strongly 
than  ever,  since  it  has  added  new  doctrines  to  its 
creed,  holds  the  ancient  Faith. 

The  Reformation  began  in  1529  and  was  not 
completed  until  1662.  It  had  two  phases,  one  in 


10  Elizabethan  Clergy,  Gee.     Queen  Elizabeth,  Camden. 


244  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

respect  of  Rome,  and  one  in  respect  of  Puritanism. 

THE  CHURCH  REPUDIATES  PURITANISM. 

The  Church,  having  thus  met  Romanism,  had 
next  to  meet  with  Puritanism  and  Protestantism. 
There  had  arisen  within  the  Church  of  England, 
largely  derived  from  the  Continent,  Calvinistic 
opinions.  These  developed  in  the  time  of  Crom- 
well into  the  Great  Rebellion;  and  overthrew  for 
a  time  the  monarchy  and  the  Church.  The  Puri- 
tan theological  positions  had  been  met  by  the 
Church's  great  theologians,  Hooker,  Andre wes,  and 
Laud.  When  in  power,  the  Puritans,  displaying 
their  true  spirit,  forbade  the  use  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  broke  the  stained-glass  windows  in  the 
churches,  stabled  their  horses  in  the  old  Cathe- 
drals, removed  the  altars  from  their  ancient  east- 
ward position  and  substituted  tables  in  their  place, 
around  which  they  gathered  in  unseemly  and  ir- 
reverent fashion.  They  denied  the  authority  of 
the  Church,  the  power  of  the  priesthood,  and  the 
sacraments. 

God's  providence  again  preserved  the  English 
Church  and  overthrew  the  intruders.  In  1661 
the  restoration  of  the  monarchy  took  place,  and 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         245 

with  it  the  revival  of  the  Church.  Perhaps  never 
so  able  a  body  of  Bishops  came  together  as  those 
who  assembled  after  the  Kestoration  and  put  forth 
the  Prayer  Book  in  its  last  revised  form.  But 
first,  in  order  to  be  fair,  they  sought,  if  possible, 
to  unite  the  nonconforming  bodies  and  to  restore 
them  to  the  Church.  Thus,  in  1661,  the  Savoy 
Conference  was  assembled,  consisting  of  twelve 
Bishops  and  twelve  Protestant  ministers.  Bax- 
ter, who  led  the  Protestant  side,  produced  a  rival 
Prayer  Book  of  his  own  making,  and  demanded  its 
acceptance  as  an  alternate.  These  ministers  also 
demanded  the  disuse  of  the  word  "priest"  in  the 
Prayer  Book,  and  the  permission  to  use  extempore 
prayers  at  the  discretion  of  the  ministers.  They 
asked  that  the  observance  of  Lent  and  Saints'  Days 
be  abolished.  They  objected  to  the  sign  of  the 
cross  in  Baptism  and  the  ring  in  marriage.  They 
required  that  the  practice  of  kneeling  at  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Eucharist  be  discontinued.  They 
objected  to  the  teaching  of  the  baptismal  service, 
which  taught  that  each  person  so  baptized  was  "re- 
generated." They  demanded  that  the  Ornaments 
Rubric  should  be  abolished,  so  that  the  Eucharistic 
vestments,  and  lights  on  the  altar,  incense,  and 


246  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

other  ceremonials  should  no  longer  be  permitted." 
They  demanded  also  that  those  who  received  Pres- 
byterian ordination  should  be  admitted  as  Church 
clergymen,  without  any  further  form  of  laying-on 
of  hands  by  the  Bishop.  These  Protestant  minis- 
ters also  asserted  that  the  Church  was  not  merely 
acting  inexpediently  but  sinfully,  in  making  the 
sign  of  the  Cross,  in  allowing  the  wearing  of  sur- 
plices, in  the  kneeling  at  Communion,  and  the  de- 
claring those  baptized  to  be  "regenerate.77  It  is 
obvious  that  if  their  demands  had  been  accepted 
the  Church  of  England  would  have  been  wrecked, 
and  it  could  no  longer  have  been  a  branch  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  The  Bishops  refused,  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  divine  trust  they  had  received,  to  grant 
these  revolutionary  demands.  The  Prayer  Book 
was  thus  reestablished  practically  as  we  now  have 
it.  We  cannot  be  too  thankful  to  God's  providence 
that  in  this  critical  time  He  so  saved  it,  and  that 
the  Church  was  thus  found  loyal  to  Catholic  doc- 
trine and  worship,  in  resisting  the  attacks  of  Prot- 
estantism. 

FINAL  REPUDIATION  OF  ROMANISM. 
ISTot  long  after,  through  her  Bishops,  she  re- 


11  Catholic  Brief,  Burnie. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         247 

sisted  the  political  influence  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic King,  James  II.,  who  sought  to  make  her  sub- 
servient to  his  purpose;  and  when,  in  1688,  the 
king  commanded  the  Bishops  to  cause  his  declara- 
tion, which  was  to  be  a  step  towards  the  revival 
of  Romanism,  to  be  read  from  every  pulpit,  we 
know  how  the  demand  was  met.  Archbishop  San- 
croft  summoned  a  conference  of  Bishops  and  clergy 
at  Lambeth.  The  discussion  lasted  for  a  week. 
Legal  advice  was  sought.  Seven  Bishops  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  king,  stating  that  his 
declaration  was  founded  on  a  dispensing  power 
which  had  already  been  declared  illegal.  The 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  Church  stood  unitedly  be- 
hind the  Bishops  in  defense  of  national  liberty. 
The  Bishops,  as  being  guilty  of  a  libel,  were  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower.  We  quote  the  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  their  committal  as  given  by  Wakeman :  " 
"Their  passage  to  the  prison  was  a  triumphal  pro- 
cession. Never  since  the  days  of  the  Crusades  had 
the  stolid  natures  of  Englishmen  been  so  deeply 
moved.  As  their  barge  passed  swiftly  down  the 
Thames,  hundreds  of  sober  citizens  assembled  on 
the  river  banks,  and  kneeling  in  the  black  mud, 


™His.  Eng.  Ch.,  p.  399. 


248  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

craved  their  blessing  and  thanked  God  for  their 
courage.  On  the  29th  their  trial  began.  The 
judges  were  divided  in  opinion  whether  their  peti- 
tion could  be  in  law  a  libel  or  not.  The  jury,  un- 
able to  agree,  were  locked  up  for  the  whole  of  the 
night.  At  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  came 
into  court  and  gave  their  verdict,  'Not  guilty/ 
In  a  moment  broke  out  a  scene  of  wild  excitement, 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  English  courts  of 
law.  The  crowd  within  and  without  Westminster 
Hall  broke  into  a  frenzy  of  enthusiastic  joy.  Men 
fell  upon  each  other's  necks,  and  wept  and  shouted 
and  laughed  and  wept  again;  and  amid  the  cheers 
of  men  and  the  boom  of  cannon  the  humble  heroes 
of  the  Church  passed  in  safety  to  their  homes." 
Thus  the  Reformation  was  made  secure  in 
England,  and  the  Catholicity  of  the  English 
Church  vindicated  both  against  Rome  and  Puri- 
tanism. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         249 


BOOKS  REFERRED  TO  IN  CHAPTER  VIII. 

Epitome  of  Anglican  Church  History.    Parry. 

Social  England.    Traill. 

Life  of  Wolsey.    Cavendish. 

Catharine  of  Aragon.     Froude. 

Historians  and  the  English  Reformation.     Littell. 

Reformation.     Blunt. 

Lectures  on  the  Reformation.    Aubrey  Moore. 

History  of  the  English  Church  in  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 

Centuries.    Capes. 

England  Under  the  Tudors.     Innes. 
Monasteries.    Dom  Gasquet. 
Lollardism.     Gairdner. 

Papacy  During  the  Reformation.    Creighton. 
Elizabethan  Clergy.    Gee. 

Defense  of  the  Church  of  England  Against  Puritanism. 
Cazenove  on  Reformation.    Reply  to  Littledale. 
Marian  Reaction. 

Principles  of  the  Reformation.     Lendrum. 
Studies  on  the  Prayer  Book.     Luckock. 
History  of  the  Articles  of  Religion.     Hardwick. 
Articles  of  Religion.     Gibson. 

Thirty-nine  Articles  and  Reformation.     Tyrrell  Greene. 
Thirty-nine  Articles.    Bishop  of  Brechin. 
Anglican  Brief  and  Roman  Claims.     Brinckman. 
Pope  and  Council.    Janus. 
Anglican  Orders.     Roman  Priest. 
Reformation  Settlement.    MacColl. 
Hierugia  Anglicana.     Staley. 
Catholic  Brief  Against  Harcourt.     Burnie. 
Reformation  and  Modern  Work.    Lane. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
DECADENCE  AND  REVIVAL. 

The  activity  of  the  Church  found  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Anne  was  followed  by  the  decadent  spirit 
which  marked  the  eighteenth  century.  It  was  uni- 
versal over  Europe.  It  affected  the  Church  every- 
where. In  France,  it  led  on  eventually  to  the  over- 
throw of  religion.  In  England,  it  began  at  an 
early  period  of  the  eighteenth  century.  From 
the  year  1771  to  1850,  Convocation,  which  was  the 
English  Church's  legal  assembly,  was  suppressed. 
It  was  not  allowed  to  meet  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  nor  has  it  yet  recovered  the  power  of 
passing  canons.  The  repression  of  this  constitu- 
tional body  had  an  evil  effect  on  the  clergy  and 
laity.  The  clergy  of  Tory  politics  became,  in  many 
instances,  Jacobites.  The  practical  activity  of  the 
Church  since  the  Restoration  had  been  chiefly  the 


A    MODERN    ALTAR    AND    REREDOS. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         251 

work  of  High  Churchmen.  The  Whig  government 
of  this  period  was  determined,  however,  on  their 
suppression.  It  was  opposed  to  all  their  plans  for 
Church  progress.  The  scheme  for  appointing 
Bishops  in  the  American  colonies  was  abandoned. 
The  erection  of  fifty  new  churches,  which  had  been 
voted  by  Parliament  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne, 
was  reduced  on  the  accession  of  George  I.  to 
twelve.  The  Bishoprics  were  distributed  to  the 
followers  of  the  Whig  Ministry,  chiefly  for  politi- 
cal services.  The  Cathedrals  ceased  to  be  centres 
of  diocesan  activity.  The  spirit  of  the  age  was  a 
rationalistic  one.  "The  eighteenth  century,"  says 
Liddon,  "was  marked  by  shallow  common  sense." 
It  showed  itself  in  France  in  the  encyclopsedistic 
teaching  and  the  infidelity  of  Voltaire.  This  spirit 
of  unbelief  was  checked  in  England  by  the  great 
Bishop  Butler  and  others.  Their  effort  was  to 
show  the  reasonableness  of  Christianity  and  to 
prove  that  it  was  agreeable  to  common  sense. 
Butler's  great  book  of  the  Analogy,  edited  of  late 
by  Gladstone,  is  still  of  value.  The  Church  as  a 
whole,  at  this  period,  was  cold  and  its  teaching 
rationalistic.  The  living  and  present  Christ  seemed 
to  be  left  out  of  its  theology.  The  necessity  of 


252  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

conversion  was  not  brought  home  to  the  people. 
Enthusiasm  or  zeal  was  repressed.  The  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  warned  Heber,  setting  out  on  his 
glorious  missionary  work  for  India,  to  put  down 
enthusiasm.  It  was,  we  read,  "an  age  of  artificial 
formality,  of  self-satisfied  enlightenment,  of  mate- 
rial prosperity,  and  lethargy."  Like  a  malarious 
fog,  it  crept  into  the  Church  and  laid  its  cold  hand 
upon  her  heart.  But  the  good  Providence  of  God 
did  not  abandon  her.  God  raised  up  Wesley,  a 
High  Church  Evangelical,  who  preached  with  the 
effectiveness  of  a  John  the  Baptist. 

It  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury that  there  arose  a  body  of  earnest,  evangelical 
teachers.  They  preached  the  neglected  doctrine  of 
Christ's  Atonement,  man's  lost  condition,  the  neces- 
sity of  conversion,  and  dependence  for  salvation  on 
the  merits  of  Christ.  But  their  theology  was  de- 
ficient in  not  recognizing  fully  the  Church  and  her 
Sacraments.  The  chief  promoter  in  this  work  was 
the  Kev.  H.  Venn,  who  was  ordained  in  1747.  He 
was  a  moderate  Calvinist,  and  election  and  pre- 
destination entered  into  his  teaching.  He  ignored 
the  baptismal  grace  of  membership  with  Christ. 
Other  popular  preachers  were  John  Newton,  a 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         253 

rough  converted  sailor;  Charles  Simeon,  a  Cam- 
bridge man;  Thomas  Scott,  and  Joseph  Milner. 
Amongst  laymen,  William  Wilberforce  added  his 
great  name  and  genius  to  this  school.  Hannah 
More,  the  friend  of  Dr.  Johnson,  was  also  an  asso- 
ciate. Cowper,  the  melancholic  poet,  aided  in  the 
Olney  hymn  book,  which  was  to  the  Low  Church- 
men what  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern  has  been 
since  to  the  Church.1  The  school  was  not  noted 
so  much  for  its  scholarship  as  for  its  earnestness 
in  preaching  Christ.  It  did  a  good  work.  It  had  a 
number  of  lovely  and  holy  men  of  an  Evangelical 
spirit,  like  Fletcher  of  Madeley.  As  it  gained 
political  influence,  it  decreased  somewhat  in  its 
spirituality.  And  it  lastly  passed  into  a  phase  of 
antagonism  to  certain  Church  principles  set  forth 
in  the  Prayer  Book.2  The  condition  of  the  Church 
buildings  was  at  this  time  most  deplorable.  Sir 
Beresford  Hope  thus  describes  it:  "The  aisles 
were  utilized  by  certain  family  pews  or  boxes, 
raised  aloft,  and  approached  by  private  doors  or 
staircases.  The  pulpit  stood  against  a  pillar,  with 
a  reading-desk  and  clerk's  box  beneath.  This  was 


1  Annals  of  the  Low  Church  Party,  Proby. 

2  Ibid. 


254  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

usually  called  the  three-decker  arrangement.  There 
was  a  decrepit  western  gallery  for  the  choir,  and 
the  nave  was  crammed  with  cranky  pews  of  every 
shape.  The  whitewashed  walls,  the  damp  stone 
floors,  the  high,  stiff  pews,  with  faded  red  cur- 
tains, alloted  to  all  the  principal  houses  and  farms 
in  the  parish,  the  hard  benches  without  backs, 
pushed  into  a  corner  or  cumbering  the  aisles,  where 
the  poor  might  sit,  spoke  eloquently  of  the  two 
prevailing  vices  of  the  times,  apathy  and  exclusive- 
ness.  The  grand  old  fonts  were  frequently  re- 
moved to  the  rectory  garden  to  serve  as  flower  pots, 
while  their  place  was  supplied  by  a  small  stone 
basin  standing  on  a  pedestal  in  some  remote  corner 
of  the  church.  In  the  place  where  once  the  Holy 
Altar  stood,  vested  in  fair  array,  was  to  be  found 
a  mean  table  with  a  moth-eaten  cloth  upon  it." 

This  decadent  condition,  both  in  respect  of  the 
Church's  teaching  and  worship,  together  with  the 
suppression  of  a  number  of  Bishoprics  in  Ireland, 
led,  under  God's  guidance,  to  the  rise  of  a  school 
whose  object  was  the  recovery  of  the  Church's 
Catholic  heritage.  We  will  treat  of  it  now  under 


*Pusey  and  the  Church  Revival,  Bp.  Grafton. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         255 

two  heads:  its  development  in  England,  and  in 
America. 

THE  MOVEMENT  IN  ENGLAND. 
It  was  heralded  in  England  by  Keble's  famous 
sermon  at  Oxford,  in  1834,  on  the  Church's  Apos- 
tacy.  A  number  of  holy  and  learned  men  became 
associates  with  him,  among  whom  were  Pusey  and 
Newman,  Isaac  Williams,  Harold  Froude,  Charles 
Harriot,  and  others.  They  began  by  putting  forth 
a  series  of  papers,  which  were  known  as  "Tracts 
for  the  Times."  These  attracted  universal  atten- 
tion, and  were  sold  by  the  thousand.  They  began 
by  teaching  the  almost  forgotten  doctrine  of  the 
Apostolic  Succession,  and  of  the  Church  as  a  di- 
vinely founded  society.  They  brought  out  in  their 
teaching  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation,  as  the 
fundamental  truth  of  Christianity.4  It  was  in  and 
through  union  with  Christ  as  the  second  Adam  that 
the  new  and  redeemed  race  was  being  formed. 
Christ  had  ordained  Sacraments,  as  channels  of 
grace  by  which  the  union  was  begun  and  per- 
fected. They  did  not  deny  anything  the  Evangeli- 
cals had  previously  taught,  but  thus  supplemented 
their  teaching.  Their  work  was,  however,  violently 


The  Incarnation,  Wilberforce. 


256  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

opposed.  The  Bishops,  who  at  that  time  were 
mostly  Low  Churchmen,  charged  against  them. 
The  common  people,  who  were  inflamed  by  the  cry 
of  Komanism,  began  mobbing  them.  Anything 
seemed  to  be  an  excuse  and  an  incitement  to  vio- 
lence. The  preaching  in  the  surplice  was  one  of 
these  causes.  Mobs  assembled  for  weeks  on  Sun- 
days at  St.  George's  in  the  east  of  London,  and 
with  howlings  and  imprecations  silenced  the 
preacher.  The  Rev.  John  Mason  Neale,  the  saintly 
founder  of  St.  Margaret's  Sisterhood,  introduced 
at  the  funeral  of  one  of  the  Sisters  a  bier,  covered 
with  a  pall,  on  which  was  a  cross.  The  mob,  tak- 
ing it  for  a  sign  of  popery,  attacked  his  house  and 
tried  to  set  it  on  fire.5 

The  movement,  which  had  taken  root,  was 
checked  about  the  year  1844  by  the  defection  of 
Newman.  He  had  been  originally  a  Low  Church- 
man, had  accepted  the  via  media  theory,  and  be- 
came a  High  Churchman.  He  became  convinced 
that  the  Decrees  of  Trent  and  the  Thirty-nine  Ar- 
ticles were  reconcilable,  and  wrote  Tract  XC.  in 
proof  of  this.  Being  of  a  very  sensitive  tempera- 
ment, he  felt  wounded  by  the  attacks  made  on  him 


5  Letters  of  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Neale. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         257 

at  Oxford,  and  in  soreness  of  heart  seceded  to 
Kome.  He  endeavoured  to  defend  his  action  by  a 
theory  of  development,  which  was  not  altogether 
cordially  received  by  the  Roman  Church.  He  was 
unlike  Dr.  Pusey,  who  had  been  from  childhood 
grounded  in  the  Church's  doctrines,  and  who  ac- 
cepted the  Faith  as  it  had  been  received  from  the 
beginning,  and  proclaimed  by  the  undivided 
Church.  The  secession  of  Newman  and  his  friends 
only  temporarily  checked  the  movement  for  the  re- 
covery of  the  Church's  heritage.  The  movement 
was  not  of  man,  but  of  God,  and  it  went  on. 

Not  long  after  another  event  happened,  which 
began  the  contest  with  the  State.  A  Rev.  Mr. 
Gorham  had  denied  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  re- 
generation as  expressed  in  the  Prayer  Book.  The 
Bishop  of  Exeter  had  refused  to  institute  him. 
On  appeal  to  the  State  Court,  Gorham  was  sus-- 
tained.  It  is  said  the  Court,  in  doing  this,  put 
into  his  mouth  a  doctrine  that  he  did  not  hold. 
The  Bishop  of  Exeter  summoned  a  synod  of  his 
clergy,  which  upheld  the  Bishop  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  Church.8  The  Church's  doctrine  was  thus 


6  Privy  Council  Judgments,  Brooke.     Gorham  v.  the  Bishop 
of  Exeter. 


258  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

vindicated.  In  March,  1860,  the  English  Church 
Union  was  formed.7  Its  objects  were  to  defend 
and  maintain  unimpaired  the  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline of  the  Church  of  England,  to  afford  counsel 
and  protection  to  all  persons,  lay  or  clerical,  suf- 
fering under  unjust  aggression,  or  hindrance  in 
spiritual  matters.  This  society,  of  which  Lord 
Halifax  is  the  president,  consists  now  of  four 
thousand  clergy  and  thirty-eight  thousand  laity, 
and  has  done  a  noble  work  in  safeguarding  the 
Faith.  At  the  beginning,  the  movement  at  Ox- 
ford was  chiefly  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  one. 
But  as  the  movement  extended,  there  went  along 
with  it  the  recovery  of  the  Church's  worship. 
"There  was  no  practical  difference,"  said  Pusey, 
"between  us  and  the  Ritualists.  We  taught 
through  the  ear,  and  they  taught  also  through  the 
eye."  Acting  on  the  authority  given  by  the  Orna- 
ments Rubric,  lights  on  the  Altar, v  vestments  for 
clergy,  the  mixed  chalice  at  the  Eucharist,  the  east- 
ward position  at  the  Consecration,  and  other  inci- 
dental ceremonials,  were  introduced.  The  Low 
Churchmen,  who  had  failed  to  put  down  the  move- 

7  History  of  the  Eng.  Ch.  Union,  Roberts,  p.  12. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         259 

ment  through  the  charges  of  the  Bishops,  now  re- 
sorted to  legal  efforts. 

A  Low  Church  Association  was  formed  for  the 
prosecution  of  High  Churchmen,  and  a  consider- 
able sum  of  money  was  raised.  Civil  suits  to  put 
down  ritual  were  instituted.  The  civil  court  of 
last  resort  then  existing  was  that  of  the  Privy 
Council.  It  was  reported  by  Lord  Brougham  that, 
by  a  mistake  in  1830,  ecclesiastical  causes  had  been 
assigned  to  it.  It  was  not  a  court  composed  of 
permanent  members,  but,  being  appointed  from 
time  to  time,  was  under  the  manipulation  of  politi- 
cal influences.  This  packed  and  prejudiced  the 
tribunal.  A  number  of  ritual  cases  were  tried  be- 
fore it.  Amongst  them  was  that  of  the  reredos  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  The  decisions  were  not 
always  consistent  with  one  another,  but  they  were 
marked  by  obvious  pre judgments.  On  one  occa- 
sion three  of  the  judges  would  not  be  present  at 
the  formal  decision,  but  one  of  them,  Chief  Baron 
Kelly,  publicly  declared  the  decision  to  be  a  politi- 
cal one.8 

The  Catholic  clergy  who  were  condemned,  hold- 
ing that  a  civil  court  had  no  power  to  decide  spirit- 


8  Privy  Council  Decisions,  Brooks. 


260  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

ual  causes,  refused  obedience.  A  number  of  them 
were  sent  to  prison,  and  became  martyrs  to  the 
Faith.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Tooth  and  others,  like  Dan- 
iel of  old,  went  to  prison  rather  than  obey  the 
king's  decrees.  They  stood  for  the  Church's  free- 
dom in  spiritual  matters  from  State  control.  Their 
sufferings  and  courage  helped  to  deliver  many  of 
the  English  clergy  from  a  false  Erastianism.  It 
taught  them  the  solemn  duty  to  disobey  the  state 
when  its  decrees  conflicted  with  those  of  the 
Church.  The  great  movement  on  behalf  of  the 
Church's  emancipation  and  recovery  of  her  heri- 
tage was  thus  aided  by  these  adverse  decisions.  It 
moved  on. 

THE  BROAD  CHURCH. 

But  now  we  are  bound  to  mention  the  rise  of 
a  new  school  within  the  Church.  Partly  owing 
to  German  rationalistic  speculations  concerning 
the  Bible,  partly  to  the  new  methods  of  investiga- 
tion, given  to  all  subjects,  by  the  discovery  of  the 
process  of  evolution ;  partly  by  the  growing  critical 
spirit  of  agnosticism,  doubts  were  being  cast  on  the 
inspiration  of  Scripture.  The  authenticity  of  the 
Old  Testament  writings  and  fundamental  truths 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         261 

of  Christianity  were  being  questioned.  This  line 
of  thought  came  to  be  known  as  the  Broad  Church 
School.  One  of  its  first  efforts  was  the  publica- 
tion of  a  book  called  Essays  and  Reviews.  Some 
of  the  writers  appeared  to  deny  the  genuineness 
of  the  prophetic  predictions,  the  reality  of  the 
miracles,  the  supernatural  conception  of  the  Son 
of  God  by  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ's  crucified  Body.  The  Bishops,  however, 
collectively  condemned  the  book,  declaring  it  to  be 
unsound  and  dangerous.  Another  Broad  Church 
leader,  Bishop  Colenso,  put  forth  a  book  entitled, 
The  Pentateuch  and  Book  of  Joshua  Critically 
Examined.  He  questioned  the  veracity  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  also  the  divine  authority  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  matter  was  finally 
taken  up  by  his  Metropolitan,  Bishop  Grey,  of 
South  Africa.  Bishop  Colenso  was  brought  to 
trial,  his  book  condemned,  and  he  was  removed 
from  the  Episcopate.  This  action  was  subse- 
quently approved  by  the  House  of  Convocation. 

A  Mr.  \7oysey,  having  published  sermons  in 
which  the  inspiration  of  Holy  Scriptures,  the  Di- 
vinity of  Christ,  and  the  doctrine  of  Eternal  Pun- 
ishment were  denied,  the  Archbishop  of  York  took 


262  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

proceedings  against  him.  While  the  English 
Church  Union  was  willing  to  assist  pecuniarily  the 
Archbishop,  and  asked  the  Low  Church  Associa- 
tion to  join  with  them,  the  Low  Churchmen  re- 
fused. They  were  willing  enough  to  attack  ritual, 
but  not  to  join  in  defending  the  divinity  of  Christ. 
Mr.  Voysey  subsequently  joined  the  Unitarian 
body. 

In  fairness  to  the  Privy  Council,  it  is  to  be 
stated  that  the  Low  Church  Association  failed  in 
its  attempt  to  secure  a  condemnation  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Real  Presence.  Mr.  Bennett,  the  rec- 
tor of  Frome  Selwood,  had  stated  his  belief  in  the 
"Real,  objective  Presence  of  our  Lord,  under  the 
form  of  Bread  and  Wine,  upon  the  Altars  of  our 
churches,"  and  "whom  myself  adore,  and  teach 
the  people  to  adore,  Christ  present  in  the  Elements 
under  the  form  of  Bread  and  Wine."  The  Court 
acquitted  Mr.  Bennett,  as  not  having  gone  beyond 
the  allowed  teaching  of  the  Church.9  Flushed  by 
their  success  before  the  civil  tribunal,  the  Low 
Churchmen  now  attacked  one  of  the  Bishops. 
They  selected  Dr.  King,  the  saintly  Bishop  of 


9  Privy   Council  Decisions,   N.   271.     His.   Eng.   Ch.   Union, 
114-120. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         263 

Lincoln.  This  case,  however,  was  held  before  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  sitting  with  a  number 
of  Bishops  as  assessors.  The  Court  met  July  23, 
1899.  Celebrations  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  were 
made  in  the  morning  by  the  High  Churchmen 
throughout  England,  "that  God  might  be  pleased 
to  overrule  the  trial  to  His  greater  glory  and  the 
good  of  His  Church." 

The  points  at  issue  were:  The  use  of  the 
mixed  Chalice,  its  mixture  during  the  service,  the 
ablutions  at  the  end,  the  eastward  position  in  the 
early  part  of  the  service,  and  during  the  prayer 
of  consecration,  the  singing  of  the  Agnus  Dei  after 
the  canon,  lighted  candles  upon  the  altar,  the  sign 
of  the  holy  cross  by  the  Bishop  in  giving  the  Ab- 
solution and  Benediction.  In  all  these,  save  the 
trifling  one  of  the  Cross,  the  decision  on  Churchly 
and  historical  grounds  was  given  in  favor  of  the 
Bishop.  Thus,  after  years  of  trial,  a  real  victory 
was  made  on  behalf  of  the  Church  cause. 

SIGNS  OP  PEACE. 

And  now  some  efforts  for  peace  began  to  be 
made.  Archbishop  Tait  drawing  near  his  end, 
sought  a  reconciliation  with  Fr.  Mackonochie. 


264  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

The  bringing  of  Churchmen  of  all  schools  together 
in  Church  congresses  began  to  lessen  the  bitterness 
of  feeling.  The  attacks  of  political  dissenters 
upon  the  Church  drove  Churchmen  into  a  de- 
fensive alliance.  The  papal  decision  against  our 
orders  also  helped  on  the  growing  spirit  of  union, 
and  disillusionized  the  minds  of  many  of  the  rit- 
ualists as  to  the  spirituality  of  Rome.  Round 
table  conferences  began  to  be  held,  where  Low  and 
High  Churchmen  met  together  to  discuss  their 
differences  and  find  terms  for  agreement.  The 
development  of  Religious  Orders  with  their  mis- 
sionary spirit  won  for  the  High  Church  school 
great  respect.  The  rise  of  St.  Andrew's  Brother- 
hood and  the  Laymen's  Forward  Movement  have 
contributed  towards  unity.  It  is  being  recognized 
that  the  Catholic  Movement  in  its  doctrine  does 
not  deny  the  early  Evangelical  teaching,  but  only 
supplements  it,  and  that  the  Church's  recovered 
ritual  has  not  been  introduced  in  imitation  of 
Rome,  but  as  a  recovery  of  her  own  heritage. 

II. — THE  CHUKCH  IN  AMERICA. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  rise  of  the  Church 
in  America.     Sir  Walter  Raleigh  had  attempted 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         265 

in  1585  and  1587  to  establish  a  colony  in  Virginia. 
He  parted  with  his  Letters  Patent  to  a  company 
of  merchants,  and  presented  to  them  a  donation  of 
£100,  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion 
in  Virginia.10  Prayers  were  first  read  on  the  coast 
of  the  Pacific  by  the  Rev.  Francis  Fletcher,  which 
act  is  commemorated  by  a  stone  cross  set  up  in  the 
Golden  Gate  Park  in  San  Francisco.  In  the  East, 
Sir  George  Weymouth  visited  the  coast  of  Maine, 
and  set  up  a  cross  on  Monhegan  Island.  There, 
in  1607,  the  Rev.  Richard  Seymour  held  a  service. 
The  Church  was  really  founded  in  the  year  1606 
at  Jamestown.  In  that  year,  King  James  I. 
chartered  the  Virginia  Company.  The  territory 
thus  granted  extended  from  Cape  Fear  to  the  Bay 
of  Fundy.  The  portion  from  Cape  Fear  to  the 
Potomac  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  number  of  per- 
sons residing  in  London,  and  so  came  to  be  called 
the  "London  Company."  It  is  a  matter  of  more 
than  ordinary  interest  that  one  of  its  members  was 
the  Rev.  Nicholas  Ferrar,  who  founded  the  Re- 
ligious House  of  Little  Gidding  in  England.  He 
and  his  holy  household,  whose  history  should  be 
read  by  all  Churchmen,  must  have  often  prayed 


10  Title  Deeds  Ch.  Eng.,  Gamier,  p.  254. 


266  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

for  the  work.  While  the  enterprise  was  of  a  mer- 
cantile character,  religion  entered  into  it.  The 
proposed  colonists  were  instructed  to  make  "Your- 
selves all  of  one  mind  for  the  good  of  the  country 
and  your  own,  and  to  serve  and  fear  God,  the 
Giver  of  all  goodness;  for  every  plantation  which 
our  Heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be 
rooted  up."  We  find  the  colonists  on  arriving  pre- 
paring for  the  coming  Sunday  service  by  hanging 
up  an  old  sail,  fastening  it  to  three  or  four  trees. 
It  was  to  serve  as  a  shelter  from  the  sun  and  rain. 
They  made  seats  out  of  rough  logs.  They  placed 
a  bough  of  wood  between  two  of  the  trees  to  serve 
them  as  a  pulpit.  Their  chaplain  was  the  Eev. 
Eobert  Hunt,  a  man  of  robust  courage  and  earnest 
piety.  Subsequently  we  read  that  Morning  and 
Evening  prayer  was  daily  said.  The  low  standard 
of  Churchmanship  was,  however,  marked  by  their 
having  the  Holy  Communion  only  once  in  three 
months.  The  settlers  had  many  severe  trials 
with  the  climate  and  with  the  Indians.  They  were 
at  one  time  famishing,  and  the  colonists  on  the 
point  of  deserting  the  work,  when  Lord  Delaware 
arrived  with  reinforcements.  Lord  Delaware  knelt 
in  prayer  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  all  joined 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         267 

in  thanksgiving  to  God  for  His  mercy  in  saving 
them.  The  simple  church  which  they  had  erected, 
and  which  had  almost  fallen  to  pieces,  was  re- 
paired, and  daily  service  was  renewed.  We  have 
to  record,  however,  that  in  1609  a  Dutch  ship 
appeared,  having  for  sale  a  cargo  of  twenty  ne- 
groes. In  this  way,  our  evil  system  of  slavery 
began.  The  administration  of  the  colony,  which 
was  first  under  Presidents,  in  1624  was  placed  un- 
der Governors,  the  first  of  whom  was  Lord  Dela- 
ware. Before  leaving  Jamestown  affairs,  "it  is  a 
just  pride/7  says  John  Eiske,  "that  the  work  of 
founding  a  university  was  proposed."  If  New 
England  can  rejoice  in  the  founding  of  Harvard 
College,  Virginia  can  rightly  boast  of  the  heroic 
endurance  of  her  settlers  and  their  provision  for 
education. 

THE  CHUKCH'S  GROWTH. 

The  Church,  which  gradually  grew  in  Mary- 
land and  Virginia,  began  a  feeble  existence  in  the 
North.  The  settlers  of  New  England,  who  landed 
at  Plymouth  in  1620,  were  separatists  from  the 
Church.  The  Puritans,  as  is  sometimes  thought, 
were  not  advocates  of  religious  liberty.  Church- 
men and  Quakers  were  severely  treated.  We  find 


268  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

in  1750,  a  Churchman,  an  old  man,  severely 
whipped  for  not  attending  meeting.  The  Charter 
granted  to  the  Massachusetts  colony  had  declared 
that  its  end  was  to  win  the  natives  of  the  country 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  only  one  God  and  Saviour 
of  mankind.  But  they  treated  the  Indians  as 
Amorites,  Hivites,  and  Jebusites.  In  their  war 
with  the  Indian  tribe  of  Pequots,  the  colony 
adopted  a  policy  of  extermination.  Robinson,  their 
former  pastor  at  Leyden,  said  to  the  Governor  of 
Plymouth,  "Oh,  that  you  had  converted  some  be- 
fore you  had  killed  any!"  It  may  be  gratefully 
remembered  that  John  Elliot,  formerly  a  minister 
of  the  Church,  became  the  Apostle  of  the  Indians. 
He  translated  the  Scriptures  into  their  tongue,  and 
won  many  of  them  to  Christ.  The  settlers  who 
landed  at  Salem  in  1630  were  not  separated  from 
the  Church.  They  called  the  Church  of  England 
their  "dear  Mother,"  acknowledging  that  the  hope 
and  part  they  had  obtained  in  the  common  salva- 
tion, "they  had  received  in  her  bosom  and  suckled 
from  her  breast."  *  Five  ships  brought  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  settlers.  At  Salem,  their  spirit- 
ual leader  was  the  Rev.  John  White,  who  had  two 


11  Ch.  in  America,  Hodge,  p.  57. 


THE   AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         269 

Church  ministers  with  him.  Dr.  Lake,  the  Bishop 
of  Bath  and  Wells,  gave  the  enterprise  its  blessing. 
In  1641*  the  Rev.  Richard  Gibson  had  a  church 
and  a  parsonage  at  Portsmouth.  The  Rev.  Robert 
Radcliffe  held  service  in  the  old  South  Meeting 
House  in  Boston,  and  aroused  much  resentment 
by  officiating  in  his  surplice  and  using  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer.  The  Rev.  Eland  Evans  min- 
istered for  some  eighteen  years  in  Christ  Church, 
Philadelphia.  He  is  said  to  have  baptized  several 
hundred  Quakers,  and  was  by  that  body  bitterly 
disliked.  In  New  York,  the  Church  was  more 
favorably  received.  In  1697,  Trinity  Church 
having  been  founded,  the  Rev.  William  Vesey  was 
called  to  be  its  rector.  St.  Mary's  Church  was 
founded  in  Burlington  in  1703,  St.  Peter's 
Church  in  Albany,  1716.  A  memorable  event  in 
1722  took  place  in  New  Haven.12  About  1711, 
Yale  College  had  received  a  present  from  England 
of  800  volumes  for  their  library,  among  which 
were  to  be  found  works  by  divines  of  the  English 
Church.  The  President  of  the  College,  Dr.  Cut- 
ler, and  two  of  his  leading  professors,  Samuel 


« Coleman's   Ch.  in  Amer.,  40 ;   Wilberforce,   P.   E.   Ch.  in 
America,  104  ;  Hodges'  Epis.  Ch.  in  Amer.,  p.  65. 


270  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

Johnson  and  Daniel  Brown,  were  led  to  accept  the 
divine  right  of  the  Episcopacy.  On  the  day  after 
the  commencement,  1702,  the  faculty  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, with  five  prominent  American  pastors,  pre- 
sented to  the  trustees  a  letter  stating  their  religious 
change  of  mind.  They  said  they  had  become  con- 
vinced of  the  invalidity  of  Presbyterian  ordina- 
tion. They  felt  they  could  not  continue  outside 
of  visible  communion  of  an  Episcopal  Church. 
They  were  dismissed  from  their  post,  hotly  abused, 
and  suffered  in  other  ways  much  persecution.  The 
conversion  of  these  eminent  Protestant  ministers 
was  a  blow  to  Puritanism.  "The  Church"  there- 
after, we  read,  "progressed  in  Connecticut,  being 
commended  to  the  people  by  the  solid  attainments, 
the  intelligent  loyalty,  and  the  elevated  character 
of  the  clergy." 

THE  CHURCH'S  WEAKNESS. 
But  during  the  colonial  period  the  Church  suf- 
fered under  two  great  disabilities.  It  had  no 
Bishops,  and  it  was  unpopular.  The  Episcopate 
had  been  urgently  and  often  asked  for  from  Eng- 
land, but  for  political  and  other  reasons  it  had  been 
refused.  That  the  Church  should  have  been  kept 
alive  in  this  marred  condition  of  its  government 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         271 

is  a  marvel.  For  ordination,  candidates  were 
obliged,  with  much  expense  and  danger,  to  cross 
the  ocean.  The  clergy  who  came  from  England 
were  regarded  by  the  colonists  as  foreigners.  A 
laxity  of  discipline  ensued,  which  makes  the  read- 
ing of  clerical  life,  especially  in  the  South,  un- 
pleasant and  regretful.  The  loss  of  the  enlighten- 
ing grace  of  Confirmation  showed  itself  in  the 
ignorance  of  the  Church's  polity  and  a  weakened 
spirituality.  When,  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
English  Churchmen  were  willing  to  give  us  Bish- 
ops, they  were  met  by  un-churchly  American  hos- 
tility. "They  were  not  wanted."  Again,  the 
Church  was  very  unpopular.  The  other  religious 
bodies  were  possessed  of  a  strong  animosity  against 
the  Church.  One  Morton  of  Merrymount  was  ac- 
cused of  atheism  by  his  neighbours  of  Boston,  the 
charge  being  based,  according  to  John  Fiske,  on 
the  fact  that  he  used  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

"The  Puritan  opinions  in  politics  and  religion 
were  violently  opposed  to  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
order.  To  their  minds,"  says  Dr.  Hodges,  "the 
Church  stood  for  the  bigotry  of  Bishops  and  the 
tyranny  of  kings." 

When  we  come  to  the  American  Revolution,  we 


272  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

find  a  number  of  the  clergy,  English  by  birth,  sid- 
ing with  England.  Some  of  them  left  their  par- 
ishes and  went  back  to  the  old  country,  or  to  an 
English  colony.  Their  attitude  of  course  increased 
the  unpopularity  of  the  Church.  The  use  of  forms 
of  prayer  was  called  unspiritual.  It  was  said  to  be 
a  quenching  of  the  spirit,  and  the  Church's  wor- 
ship was  denounced  as  a  cold  formalism.  Never- 
theless it  continued  to  grow. 

Of  the  necessary  changes  in  the  Prayer  Book, 
in  consequence  of  our  separation  from  England, 
we  will  treat  later. 

The  Episcopate  was  eventually  obtained  from 
Scotland  and  England.  The  Church's  progress  was 
aided  by  the  heroic  lives  of  some  of  our  missionary 
Bishops.  Among  these  was  the  great  Bishop  White, 
a  man  of  balanced  wisdom  and  sanctity.  Bishop 
Seabury,  who  had  obtained  his  consecration  from 
Scotland,  and  who  was  a  devoted  High  Church- 
man, and  Bishop  Hobart  of  New  York,  who  was 
like-minded  in  his  teaching  and  a  great  adminis- 
trator, left  their  marked  impression  on  the  Church. 
Bishops  Chase  and  Kemper,  who  were  great  mis- 
sionaries, planted  the  Church  in  the  central  and 
farther  West. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         273 
THE  CATHOLIC  MOVEMENT. 

As  the  Church  grew,  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century  there  was  a  development  here,  under  the 
guidance  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  of  that  same  move- 
ment for  the  recovery  of  the  Church's  full  heritage 
of  doctrine  and  worship  as  had  begun  in  England. 
The  teachings  of  Hobart  and  Seabury  laid  the 
foundation  of  this  recovery.  Indeed,  it  has  been 
thought  by  some  that,  as  it  was  no  imitation  or 
echo  of  English  teaching,  they  had  led  the  way. 

They  taught  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  the 
Apostolic  Succession,  Baptismal  Regeneration,  and 
the  Prayer  Book,  as  the  Church's  Rule  of  Faith. 
The  teaching  of  some  High  Churchmen  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Holy  Eucharist  was  very  strong.  In  a 
note  to  his  famous  sermon  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Farmer  Jarvis,  before  the  Bishops,  clergy, 
and  laity,  constituting  the  Board  of  Missions  in 
1834,  by  the  title,  "Christian  Unity  Necessary  for 
the  Converting  of  the  World/'  he  said :  "We  have 
no  right  to  banish  from  our  Communion  those 
whose  notions  of  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ  in 
the  Sacraments  rise  to  a  mysterious  change  by 
which  the  very  Elements  themselves,  though  they 


274  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

retain   their   original   properties,    are   corporeally 
united  with,  or  transformed  into,  Christ." 

The  revival  of  Church  teaching  began  here,  as 
in  England,  to  be  opposed.  The  slightest  revival 
of  enrichment  in  the  services  was  condemned. 
Many  of  the  churches  then  had  the  old  three-decker 
arrangement,  consisting  of  a  pulpit  beneath  which 
was  a  reading  desk,  and  beneath  that  a  place  for 
the  clerk,  who  said  the  responses.  A  recessed  chan- 
cel was  looked  upon  with  abhorrence.  Bishops  in- 
sisted there  should  be  nothing  looking  like  an  al- 
tar in  the  chancel.  It  must  be  an  honest  table  with 
four  visible  legs.  The  introduction  of  flowers  was 
sternly  forbidden,13  as  was  also  a  cross  on  the  Holy 
Table.  A  cross  having  been  placed  on  the  wall 
over  the  altar  in  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  Bos- 
ton, the  Bishop  assigned  it  as  a  reason  why  he 
would  not  visit  the  Church  for  Confirmation.14  A 
cross  having  been  found  in  the  chapel  of  the  Gen- 
eral Theological  Seminary,  on  the  front  railing  of 
the  chancel,  it  was  declared  to  be  improper  by  the 
dean,  and  ordered  to  be  removed.15  Where  there 
was  a  reading  desk,  where  the  prayers  were  said, 


13  Appendix  Gen.  Conven,  f ol.  249. 

14I/i/e  of  William  CroswelL 

15  Journal  Gen.  Convention,  1844,  Appendix. 


THE  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         275 

it  faced  the  people.  On  one  occasion,  when  the 
venerable  Dr.  Edson  of  Lowell  was  saying  the 
office  stall-wise,  Bishop  Eastman,  who  was  present, 
rose  and  took  him  by  the  shoulders,  and  made  him 
turn  round  facing  the  congregation.  There  were 
no  lights  on  the  altar,  no  vested  choristers,  no  cross 
borne  in  procession.  The  clergyman  preached,  and 
sometimes  said  the  whole  service,  in  the  black  Ge- 
neva gown,  and  the  Holy  Communion  was  but  sel- 
dom administered. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Miss  Seton,  a  de- 
vout person,  besought  the  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
New  York,  for  more  frequent  celebrations.  She 
was  refused,  and  subsequently  joined  the  Roman 
Communion,  where  she  founded  an  order  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity.  In  the  forties,  a  meeting  of 
some  High  Church  clergy  took  place  in  New  York, 
among  whom  were  Dr.  Muhlenberg  and  William 
Croswell  of  Boston,  who  discussed  the  possibility 
of  having  on  every  Sunday  a  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist.  There  was  much  party  spirit  at 
this  time.  The  Low  Churchmen  had  many  holy 
men  among  them,  but  some  took  here,  as  in  Eng- 
land, to  the  tactics  of  persecution. 

There  was  a  young  man  at  the  General  Theo- 


276  THE  LINEAGE   OF 

logical  Seminary  by  the  name  of  Arthur  Carey. 
He  was  a  young  man  noted  for  his  piety,  and  of 
considerable  intellectual  ability.  He  had  adopted 
the  opinion  afterwards  put  forth  by  Dr.  Pusey, 
that  the  decrees  of  Trent  and  our  Thirty-nine  Ar- 
ticles were  capable,  by  explanation,  of  a  recon- 
ciliation. 

In  1843,  at  the  time  of  his  ordination  by 
Bishop  Onderdonk,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Smith  and  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Anthon  rose  and  read  a  long  protest, 
grounded  on  Carey's  alleged  doctrinal  errors. 
Bishop  Onderdonk,  however,  stated  that  the  accu- 
sation had  already  been  investigated,  that  there 
would  be  no  changes  in  the  service  of  the  day,  and 
that  all  the  candidates  present  would  be  ordained. 
This  brought  Bishop  Onderdonk  into  great  dis- 
favor with  the  Low  Churchmen.  He  was  himself 
the  next  object  of  their  attack.  They  charged  him 
with  acts  evincing  a  "prevalent  impurity  of  mind." 
The  evidence  was  imperfect,10  and  as  the  great 
Bishop  Whittingham  said  in  his  written  opinion, 
"The  probabilities  were  strong  against  it."  But 
the  Low  Church  Bishops  voted  for  his  condemna- 
tion. It  was  obviously  a  mere  party  judgment. 


18  Trial  of  Bp.  Onderdonk,  published  by  the  Court. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         277 

Bishop  Onderdonk  was  suspended.  Subsequently, 
in  the  same  spirit,  the  great  Bishop  Doane  of  ISTew 
Jersey  was  attacked.  One  charge  related  to  money 
matters.  His  diocesan  convention,  clergy  and 
laity,  rallied  to  his  support,  and  his  masterful 
mind  was  able  to  defeat  the  attack. 

In  Massachusetts,  the  Eev.  Oliver  S.  Prescott, 
at  one  time  an  assistant  at  the  Church  of  the  Ad- 
vent, Boston,  was  presented  for  trial  for  erroneous 
teaching.  Three  trials  took  place.  It  was  not 
proved  that  he  had  heard  confessions,  but  that  he 
had  taught  the  right  of  every  layman  to  resort 
to  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  if  he  felt  the  need, 
and  the  priest,  if  he  judged  him  penitent,  to  give 
him  absolution.  Prescott  was  condemned  and  sus- 
pended from  exercising  his  priestly  office  until  he 
should  renounce  his  teaching.  He  was  urged  by 
counsel  to  appeal  to  the  civil  courts,  being  assured 
that  they  would  grant  relief  in  such  an  unjust  sen- 
tence. But,  unwilling  to  bring  such  matters  before 
civil  tribunals,  he  declined  doing  so.  Eventually 
Bishop  Whittingham  of  Maryland,  saying,  "What 
a  Bishop  could  do,  another  Bishop  could  undo," 
invited  him  into  his  diocese,  where  he  would  be 
free  from  the  sentence  in  which  he  had  acquiesced. 


278  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

A  few  years  previously,  1844,  a  fierce  attack  had 
been  stirred  up  against  the  General  Theological 
Seminary.  A  series  of  some  forty-three  inquisi- 
torial questions  was  addressed  to  its  dean  and  pro- 
fessors. "What  had  been  taught  there  concerning 
the  errors  of  Rome?  the  authority  of  General 
Councils?  whether  the  works  of  Pusey,  Newman, 
Keble,  and  Palmer  were  privately  recommended, 
or  the  Oxford  Tracts?  whether  the  errors  of  the 
Romish  Church  were  duly  exposed  ?  What  super- 
stitious practices  of  the  Romish  Church,  such  as 
the  use  of  the  crucifix,  etc.,  were  adopted?"  It 
appeared  that,  as  a  matter  of  Christmas  decoration, 
a  cross,  ornamented  in  part  by  artificial  flowers, 
was  placed  on  the  front  railing  of  the  chancel. 
This  was  made  a  comment  by  the  dean.  A  great 
effort  was  made  at  General  Convention  to  obtain 
from  the  Bishops  a  public  condemnation  of  these 
errors  in  doctrine  and  practice,  "having  their 
origin,  it  was  said,  in  certain  writings  emanating 
chiefly  from  members  of  the  University  of  Oxford 
in  England." 

The  effort,  however,  which  took  the  form  of  a 
resolution,  was  voted  down.  The  House  of  clerical 
and  lay  deputies,  as  giving  a  quietus  to  the  agita- 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         279 

tion,  resolved  that  the  liturgy,  "offices  and  articles 
of  the  Church  were  sufficient  exponents  of  her 
sense  of  the  essential  doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture, 
and  that  the  canons  of  the  Church  afforded  ample 
means  of  discipline  and  correction  for  all  who 
might  depart  from  her  standard.  And  further," 
they  declared,  "the  General  Convention  was  not  a 
suitable  tribunal  for  the  trial  and  censure  of,  and 
that  the  Church  is  not  responsible  for,  the  errors 
of  individuals,  whether  they  are  members  of  this 
Church  or  otherwise." 

THE  ATTACK  ON  THE  PRAYER  BOOK. 

Thus  defeated,  the  Low  Churchmen  turned 
next  to  an  attack  upon  the  Prayer  Book.  It  con- 
tained, they  said,  "Roman  germs.  It  taught  the 
doctrine  of  Apostolic  Succession,  Baptismal  Re- 
generation, the  priest's  right  to  give  absolution  in 
private.  It  called  the  Holy  Table  an  Altar,  it 
upheld  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice." 
Now  the  basis  of  the  sacramental  system  lies  in 
the  doctrine  of  baptism,  as  the  effective  instrument 
of  regeneration.  So  clearly  is  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  expressed  in  her  baptismal  office,  that  it 
is  a  wonder  any  should  not  have  admitted  it  to  be 


280  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

so.  Some  had,  however,  invented  an  ingenious 
theory  that  regeneration  was  promised  prospec- 
tively  to  a  baptized  infant,  in  virtue  of  the  faith 
of  the  sponsors.  But  one,  who  was  subsequently 
a  Bishop  of  the  Eeformed  Episcopal  body,  de- 
clared that  in  administering  on  one  occasion  bap- 
tism privately  to  a  sick  child,  he  perceived  that  no 
sponsors  were  required,  but  the  Church  went  on 
to  say  that,  "seeing  this  child  is  regenerated."  His 
theory,  he  said,  thus  fell  to  the  ground.  The  ef- 
fort, however,  to  get  the  Prayer  Book  changed  at 
the  General  Convention  signally  failed. 

Upon  this,  a  number  of  Low  Churchmen,  led 
by  Dr.  Cummins,  Bishop  of  Kentucky,  left  the 
Church.  Dr.  Cummins  said  he  had  "lost  all  hope 
that  the  system  now  prevailing  so  extensively  in 
England,  and  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
can  or  will  be  eradicated  by  any  acts  of  the  Church, 
legislative  or  executive."  He  left  the  Church,  and 
was  deposed  by  the  House  of  Bishops. 

THE  HOLY  EUCHARIST  CONTROVERSY. 

Next  arose  the  controversy  over  the  Holy  Eu- 
charist. Dr.  de  Koven  had  defended  the  doctrine 
of  the  Objective  Eeal  Presence  as  taught  in  the 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         281 

Prayer  Book  and  Catechism.  Chosen  to  be  Bishop 
of  Illinois,  his  election  was  not  confirmed.  The 
movement,  however,  was  not  checked,  but  began 
rapidly  to  grow.  A  more  developed  ritual  took 
place  in  certain  churches,  like  that  of  St.  Alban's, 
New  York.  Lights  and  vestments  began  to  be  in- 
troduced. The  Cowley  Fathers,  coming  from  Eng- 
land in  1872,  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the  Church 
spirit  in  Boston. 

It  was  about  1874  that  a  further  attack  was 
made  on  ritual.  It  was  sought  to  put  it  down  by 
legislation.  It  was  like  the  last  fatal  charge  of  the 
old  Guard  at  Waterloo.  The  fears  of  many 
Churchmen  had  been  excited  by  the  cry  of  Koman- 
ism.  Under  the  pressure  of  the  excitement  a  canon 
was  forced  through  General  Convention  which  for- 
bade any  acts  of  reverence  by  genuflection  or  other- 
wise towards  the  Elements.  Here,  we  may  rever- 
ently say,  God  took  part  in  the  struggle.  The  LOAV 
Churchmen  were  victorious  in  getting  their  canon 
passed,  but  God  had  struck  its  authors  with  judi- 
cial blindness,  for  the  way  in  which  they  defeated 
themselves  can  be  explained  in  no  other  manner. 
The  canon  which  was  to  forbid  all  acts  of  rever- 
ence and  adoration  only  forbade  them  as  offered  to 


282  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

the  elements.  The  canon  omitted  to  state  the  con- 
secrated elements.  The  canon  never  was  put  in 
operation  and  finally  was  repealed  in  Boston  thirty 
years  later.  One  misunderstanding  may  here 
rightly  be  removed.  As  the  Jewish  priest  waved 
the  offering  before  the  Lord,  so  the  Christian 
priest  elevates  the  sacred  elements,  doing  this  as 
offering  them  to  God,  not,  as  is  sometimes  sup- 
posed, for  the  adoration  of  the  people. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  notice  that  there  arose 
some  of  the  Broad  Churchmen  here,  as  in  England, 
who  denied  the  Virgin  Birth  of  our  Blessed  Lord. 
The  Kev.  Howard  MacQueary  and  Dr.  Crapsey 
were  tried  and  condemned."  The  effort  made  to 
liberalize  the  Church  and  make  it  more  like  the 
Unitarian,  while  popular  with  the  worldly  mind- 
ed, is  not  being  well  received  by  the  orthodox  and 
devout.  Thus  we  see  how  the  great  movement 
on  behalf  of  the  recovery  of  our  Catholic  heritage 
in  doctrine  and  worship  has  progressed,  under 
God's  good  guidance,  in  our  American  Church. 

THE  CHANGES  IN  THE  PRAYER  BOOK. 
One   further  matter  must  be  touched   upon. 


17  Christian  and  Catholic,  Dr.  Grafton. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         283 

After  the  separation  from  England,  it  became 
necessary  that  some  changes  should  be  made  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Our  American  Preface 
states  that  "when  in  the  course  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, these  American  States  became  independent 
with  respect  to  civil  government,  their  ecclesiastical 
independence  was  necessarily  included."  Altera- 
tion in  the  Liturgy  became  necessary  in  prayers 
for  our  civil  rulers,  and  some  other  alterations  were 
made.  But  it  is  declared  that  "the  Church  was  far 
from  intending  to  depart  from  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  any  essential  points  of  doctrine,  discipline, 
and  worship,  further  than  local  discipline  should 
require." 

It  is  important  to  note  that  this  expressed  in- 
tention gives  us  the  rule  by  which  all  the  changes 
are  to  be  interpreted.  It  shows  that  mere  omis- 
sion would  not  mean  rejection  of  either  doctrine  or 
practice.  Thus,  the  Athanasian  Creed  was  omitted 
from  recitation,  but  remained  as  a  true  exposition 
of  the  Faith.  The  form  of  private  absolution  of 
the  sick  was  omitted,  but  allowed  to  be  given  pri- 
vately in  a  new  office,  the  Visitation  of  Prisoners. 
The  frequent  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  to 
which  some  had  objected,  was  obviated.  Selections 


284  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

of  Psalms  were  introduced,  which  allowed  of  the 
omission  of  the  recitation  of  the  imprecatory  ones. 
The  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism  was  made  op- 
tional. The  evangelical  canticles  of  the  Benedic- 
tus,  Magnificat,  and  Nunc  Dimittis  were  omitted. 
Even  an  Article  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "the  de- 
scent into  hell,"  was  bracketed.  These  conces- 
sions were  made  according  to  the  request  of  sec- 
tarians, when  union  was  sought  in  England  be- 
tween themselves  and  the  Church.  But  they  had 
no  effect  in  America  in  diminishing  the  sectarian 
feeling  of  opposition.  It  only  showed  that  con- 
cessions do  not  lead  to  union,  but  rather  intensify 
sectarian  pride  and  opposition.  Our  great  Bishop 
Seabury  allowed  these  changes,  especially  those 
in  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer.  He  left  it,  he 
said,  "to  a  wiser  generation  to  have  them  rein- 
stated." In  respect  to  the  evangelical  canticles, 
this  has  now  been  done.  Seabury  was  willing  to 
allow  of  these  changes  in  the  minor  offices,  pro- 
vided that  he  could  have  the  revision  of  the  great 
office  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  He  had  been  conse- 
crated a  Bishop  in  Scotland,  and  the  Scotch  Lit- 
urgy was  far  richer  and  more  Catholic  than  the 
English  one.  The  Scotch  Bishops  had  requested 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.         285 

Seabury  to  adopt  their  Communion  Office,  and 
Bishop  Seabury  promised  to  do  his  best  to  induce 
the  American  Church  to  adopt  it.  The  result  has 
been  that  the  American  office  is  the  most  glorious 
Liturgy  of  all  the  Churches  belonging  to  the  An- 
glican Communion.  We  find,  for  instance,  in  the 
Institution  Office  the  term  "Altar."  This  term, 
save  in  the  Coronation  Service  in  England,  was 
omitted  in  the  English  Book.  The  Holy  Com- 
munion is  also  called  in  the  Consecration  office  of 
a  church,  "the  Blessed  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ."  This  it  is  well  to  remember,  as 
there  are  those  who  have  raised  objections  to  the 
title  "Blessed,"  being  given  to  this  Sacrament.  It 
is,  however,  a  Prayer  Book  definition  and  termi- 
nology. In  the  Institution  Office,  we  find  the  Holy 
Communion  called  by  its  ancient  name,  "the  Holy 
Eucharist."  In  this  office  also,  in  its  prayer,  we 
find  it  asserted  that  Christ  has  purchased  to  Him- 
self an  universal  Church,  and  "has  promised  to  be 
with  the  ministry  of  Apostolic  Succession  to  the 
end  of  the  world."  The  relation  of  the  instituted 
priest  and  his  people  is  called  in  the  same  office  a 
"sacerdotal  connection,"  and  in  the  Visitation  of 
the  Sick,  the  minister,  on  behalf  of  all  who  are 


286  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

present,  prays  that  "when  we  are  gathered  unto 
our  fathers,  it  may  be  in  the  Communion  of  the 
Catholic  Church." 

More  important,  however,  were  the  additions 
made  to  the  Holy  Communion  consecration  prayer, 
or  canon,  as  it  is  called.  The  English  book  is  de- 
ficient, herein,  in  an  explicit  invocation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This,  which  is  held  as  so  important 
in  the  Eastern  Church,  is  fully  stated  in  our  own 
Liturgy.  In  it  "We  pray  Thee,  Merciful  Father, 
to  hear  us,  and  of  Thy  Almighty  goodness  vouch- 
safe to  bless  and  sanctify  with  Thy  Word  and 
Holy  Spirit,  these  Thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread 
and  wine,  that  we,  receiving  them  according  to  our 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ's,  holy  institution,  in  re- 
membrance of  His  death  and  passion,  may  be  par- 
takers of  His  most  blessed  Body  and  Blood."  It 
is  to  be  noted  here  that  the  elements  are  not  only 
called  creatures,  but,  having  been  endowed  with 
the  sacramental  gift  by  virtue  of  the  Institution, 
are  called  "Holy  Gifts,"  as  well  as  creatures,  hav- 
ing received  the  inward  thing  or  gift  of  Christ's 
Body  and  Blood. 

More  liturgically  important  is  the  explicit 
statement  and  action  that  shows  the  Holy  Eucha- 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         287 

rist  is  not  only  a  Communion,  but  it  is  also  a 
Sacrifice.  It  is  one,  we  know,  with  that  ever 
being  presented  on  the  Heavenly  Altar,  and  a 
memorial  re-presentation  of  the  offering  on  Cal- 
vary. We  make  the  oblation  of  the  Sacrament, 
and  offer  it  to  God.  So  "we,  Thy  humble  servants, 
do  celebrate  and  make  here  before  Thy  Divine 
Majesty  with  these  Thy  Holy  Gifts,  which  we  now 
offer  unto  Thee,  the  memorial  Thy  Son  hath  com- 
manded us  to  make."  And  this  offering  which  we 
make  and  plead  is  stated  to  be  for  the  "whole 
Church."  We  ask  God  to  accept  this  our  Sacrifice, 
"that  we  and  all  Thy  whole  Church  may  obtain 
remission  of  our  sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of  His 
Passion."  As  previously,  the  priest  had  asked  for 
prayers  for  the  Church  Militant,  that  is,  the 
Church  on  earth;  here,  as  the  priest  presents  the 
great  Memorial  Sacrifice,  he  pleads  it  on  behalf 
of  the  whole  Church.  Now  the  whole  Church 
must  include,  not  only  those  on  earth,  as  the 
Church  Militant  does,  but  the  faithful  departed. 
So  we  profess  in  the  hymn  beginning,  "The  living 
and  the  dead,  but  one  communion  make."  We 
may  not  know  what  the  latter  need,  and  so  our 
Mother  Church  prays  in  general  terms  for  all, 


288  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

"for  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of 
Christ's  Passion."  This  has  been  a  great  comfort 
and  support  to  all  who  have  lost  dear  ones  who 
have  gone  before. 

The  special  liturgical  glory  of  the  Anglican 
Church  is  her  placing  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis  after 
the  Communion  of  the  people.  In  the  early  litur- 
gies, it  stood  at  the  beginning.  The  Liturgy  which 
set  forth  the  drama  of  the  Incarnation  and  Christ's 
death,  began  then  with  the  Song  of  the  Angels  at 
Bethlehem.  But  our  Church  placed  it  after  the 
communicants  had  received.  We  were  to  sing  it, 
as  an  act  of  worship  and  devotion,  in  the  sacra- 
mental presence  of  our  Blessed  Lord.  By  this  act 
she  reserves  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  Communion,  but  after  Communion,  for 
the  purposes  of  devotion. 

In  respect  to  the  attitude  of  the  priest,  the 
Bishops  at  the  General  Convention  of  1832  de- 
clared that  aas  the  Holy  Communion  is  of  a  'spirit- 
ually sacrificial'  character,  the  standing  posture 
should  be  observed  by  him,  wherever  that  of  kneel- 
ing is  not  expressly  prescribed."  He  should 
therefore  stand,  not  kneel,  while  saying  his  pre- 


18  Journal  of  the  General  Convention,  1832,  p.  451. 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         289 

paratory  prayers.  He  should  stand  also  while  re- 
ceiving his  Communion.  He  should  kneel,  as  bid- 
den by  the  rubric,  when  saying  the  Confession,  in 
union  with  our  Lord's  kneeling  in  Gethsemane,  as 
our  Lord,  being  our  representative  Penitent,  then 
knelt.  He  would  kneel  at  the  prayer,  "We  do  not 
presume,"  etc.,  in  memory  of  our  Lord's  falling 
under  the  Cross  on  the  way  to  Calvary.  He  covers 
the  elements  after  the  consecration  with  a  fair 
linen  cloth,  symbolical  of  our  Blessed  Lord's  Body 
when  taken  down  from  the  Cross  being  wrapped 
in  a  clean  linen  cloth  and  so  laid  in  the  tomb. 

CEREMONIAL. 

In  the  American  Prayer  Book,  the  Ornaments 
Rubric  of  England,  which  referred  to  the  second 
year  of  the  reign  of  King  Edward  VI. ,  was  natur- 
ally omitted.  As  we  have  seen,  the  omission  would 
not  mean  any  legalized  change  of  ceremonial. 
What  was  legal  in  England  would  still  be  allow- 
able in  America.  This  is  our  authority  for  the 
use  of  the  surplice,  and  if  of  the  surplice,  of  the 
other  clerical  vestments.  Thus  the  deacons  at  their 
ordination  are  to  be  "decently  habited,"  the  term 
"habit"  being  here  used  in  its  Liturgical  sense, 


290  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

"Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order." 
The  retention  by  the  Bishops  of  cope  and  mitre 
was  declared  to  be  legal  by  an  official  report  to  the 
House  of  Bishops  concerning  the  Episcopal  cos- 
tume. The  committee  said,  "the  first  Bishop  of 
the  American  Church,  Bishop  Seabury,  was  ac- 
customed to  wear  the  mitre  in  certain  offices,  and 
the  first  of  our  Bishops  ever  consecrated  in  Amer- 
ica, Bishop  Claggett  of  Maryland,  continued  to  do 
so."  In  connection  with  Bishop  Seabury's  wear- 
ing the  mitre,  the  following  anecdote  may  be  in- 
teresting: Bishop  Coxe  wrote,  learning  that  the 
mitre  of  Bishop  Seabury,  used  in  his  Episcopal 
ministrations,  was  still  in  existence:  "I  had  the 
curiosity  to  obtain  it  through  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sea- 
bury  of  New  York,  and  placed  it  in  the  library  of 
Trinity  College.  An  aged  priest,  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Jones,  came  into  the  library,  and  on  his  betraying 
some  emotion  at  the  sight,  I  said  to  him,  'You  have 
probably  seen  that  mitre  on  Seabury 's  head.'  He 
answered,  'Yes;  in  1785,  at  the  first  ordination  in 
this  country,  I  saw  him  wearing  a  scarlet  hood  and 
that  mitre/  '  In  the  opinion  of  the  committee 
above  referred  to,  this  historical  fact  justifies  any 
Bishop  in  resuming  it.  This  report  was  signed  by 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         291 

the  Et.  Rev.  William  C.  Doane,  Bishop  of  Albany ; 
Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe,  Bishop  of  West- 
ern New  York ;  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter,  Bishop 
of  New  York.19 

Neither  the  use  of  the  Eucharistic  vestments 
nor  the  cope  and  mitre  should  be  made  a  matter 
of  party  strife.  Both  High  and  Low  Churchmen 
believe  in  the  Apostolic  character  of  our  Church, 
and  the  vestments  and  other  ornaments  only  bear 
witness  to  the  continuity  of  our  Church  from 
Apostolic  times.  They  are  not  introduced  in  the 
way  of  imitation  of  Rome,  but  as  a  protest  against 
her  exclusive  claims.  Whether  their  introduction 
is  desirable  was  answered  lately  by  a  body  of  clergy 
in  England  in  this  wise:  "The  question  whether 
the  vestments  should  or  should  not  be  restored  de- 
pends on  whether  it  is  desirable  to  exhibit  or  con- 
ceal the  continuity  which  they  express."  In  Amer- 
ica, surrounded  as  we  are  by  Romans  and  sectari- 
ans, is  it  not  wise  that  we  should  declare,  not  by 
word  only,  but  to  the  eyes  of  our  people,  that  our 
Church  is  the  same  as  that  founded  by  the  Apos- 
tles, and  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  ages? 


19  Journal  of  Gen.  Convention,  1886,  p.  795. 


292  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

THE  CHUECH'S  TITLE. 

We  come  now  to  the  title  of  our  Church. 

In  1785  the  Church  in  America  took  for  its 
legal  title  that  of  "Protestant  Episcopal,"  but  did 
not  mean  by  that  to  deny  that  she  was  Catholic. 
The  term  Protestant  has  two  significations.  It 
may  be  used  by  those  who,  as  members  of  a  so- 
ciety, prefer  not  to  leave  but  to  remain  in  it  under 
protest.  In  this  way,  our  Church  is  a  pro-testant 
Church.  It  protests  against  the  additions  made  to 
the  faith  by  Rome,  and  the  subtractions  made  from 
it  by  sectarians.  But  it  is  not  Protestant  in  the 
modern  sense  and  use  of  the  word,  which  involves 
a  rejection  of  all  Church  authority  and  the  sacra- 
mental system,  and  which  has  resulted  in  hundreds 
of  sects.  The  Church  in  her  government  is  "Epis- 
copal." This  distinguishes  her  from  the  Congrega- 
tional, Presbyterian,  and  Papal  systems.  She  be- 
lieves that  the  government  of  the  Church  is  vested 
in  the  Bishops  and  those  under  them.  No  one 
Bishop  is  independent  of  the  others.  His  author- 
ity lies  in  his  being  a  true  exponent  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  Episcopate.  We  believe  thus  in  the 


THE  AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         293 

solidarity  of  the  Episcopate.  The  authority  that 
lies  behind  the  individual  Bishop  is  the  corporate 
knowledge  and  consciousness  of  the  whole  undivid- 
ed Church.  The  term  "American  Catholic"  would 
now  be  more  explicit  in  our  attitude  towards  sec- 
tarians, and  would  discriminate  us  from  the 
Eoman  Church.  Our  heritage  in  faith  and  wor- 
ship, as  expressed  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
is  a  very  grand  and  noble  one.  In  these  days, 
when  Protestantism  is  disintegrating,  and  divi- 
sions are  discernible  in  the  Roman  Communion, 
our  Church,  Apostolic  and  Orthodox,  is  being 
found  a  city  of  refuge.  She  has  never  placed 
herself,  and  does  not  now,  in  opposition  to  discov- 
ered facts  of  modern  science.  She  does  not  re- 
press reverent  and  scientific  investigation  of  the 
construction  of  God's  Word.  She  allows  a  certain 
amount  of  comprehensiveness  by  permitted  diversi- 
ties of  ceremonial.  We  believe  there  is  a  growing 
spirit  of  union  springing  up  within  her.  Men  are 
outgrowing  the  little  narrow  prejudices  which  di- 
vided them  into  parties  over  trifling  matters  of 
ritual  or  speculative  questions  of  doctrine. 

We  may,  in  conclusion,  venture  the  criticism 


294  THE  LINEAGE  OF 

that  the  Church  has  been  heretofore  too  much  on 
the  defensive.  Now  no  cause  that  is  chiefly  de- 
fensive will  ever  succeed.  It  must  be  constructive 
and  aggressive  in  order  to  do  so.  There  should 
therefore  be  an  earnest  and  united  effort  made  to 
gain  a  more  appropriate  title  for  our  Church. 

It  belongs,  moreover,  to  all  her  members  to  be 
true  to  the  great  trust  they  have  received  from 
their  spiritual  forefathers,  and  not  allow  it  to  be 
impaired,  for  the  sake  of  popularity  with  the 
world,  by  compromise.  As  we  have  all  received  a 
great  treasure  which  has  come  down  to  us  through 
the  sacrifices  made  by  doctors,  confessors,  and  mar- 
tyrs, it  becomes  us  to  hand  it  on  unimpaired  to 
others.  As  our  spiritual  forebears  made  tremen- 
dous sacrifices  of  life  and  fortune  that  we  might 
receive  this  inheritance  of  the  Faith,  we  must  in 
like  manner  make  sacrifices  for  the  benefit  of  com- 
ing generations.  What  our  members  especially  need 
is  to  be  more  fully  instructed  in  the  history,  doc- 
trine, and  worship  of  the  Church,  to  be  more  and 
more  united  together  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  fel- 
lowship, to  work  for  the  Church  as  the  greatest 
cause  life  can  present  to  us,  to  use  all  its  means  of 
grace,  and  to  love  it  with  all  their  hearts. 


THE   AMERICAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.         295 

The  writer  of  this  work  prays  that  it  may  in  its 
way  aid  to  this  blessed  consummation.  Our 
Church  holds  a  magnificent  position,  and  has  great 
opportunities  before  her.  We  venture  concerning 
her,  to  paraphrase  the  hymn  of  America's  great 
poet: 

Sail  on!   O  Church  so  true  and  tried, 
Afflicted  sore,  yet  purified. 
The  world  and  Satan's  hosts  unite 
Against  thy  witness  to  Christ's  life. 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
Its  doubts,  yet  hopes  for  future  years, 
Looks  largely  to  thy  heavenly  aid. 
We  know  the  Master  laid  the  keel, 
Reformers  wrought  thy  ribs  of  steel. 
What  scaffolds  bled,  what  martyrs  died, 
In  what  a  forge  and  pains  beside 
Were  shaped  the  anchors  of  thy  hope! 
Thy  compass  is  God's  Holy  Word, 
Thy  freight  the  ancient  faith  untold : 
Fear  not  each  sudden  sound  and  shock, 
'Tis  of  the  wave  and  not  the  rock; 
In  spite  of  Rome  and  tempest's  roar, 
In  spite  of  false  lights  on  the  shore, 
Sail  on,  nor  fear  to  breast  the  sea! 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes  are  all  with  thee. 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 
Are  all  with  thee,  are  all  with  thee! 


296  THE  LINEAGE. 


BOOKS  MADE  USE  OF  IN  CHAPTER  IX. 

Annals  of  the  Low  Church  Party.    Proby. 

Tracts  of  the  Times. 

Life  of  Pusey.    Liddon. 

Pusey  and  the  Church  Revival.    Grafton. 

Life  of  Keble. 

Life  of  Isaac  Williams. 

Letters  of  J.  Mason  Neale.    E.  A.  Towle. 

Lives  of  Charles  Lowder,  Mackonochie,  and  Others. 

History  of  the  English  Church  Union.    Roberts.  / 

Life  of  the  Rev.  Mother  Superior  of  Clewer. 

Three  Hundred  Years  of  American  Church  History.  Hodges. 

History  of  the  Church  in  Maryland.    Dr.  Hawks. 

History  of  the  Church  in  Virginia. 

History  of  the  American  Church.    Coleman. 

History  of  the  American  Church.    McConnell. 

Lives  of  Bishops  White,  Hobart,  Seabury,  Chase,  Kemper. 

Journals  of  the  General  Convention. 


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